Hotel American Suites Quito

... celebrations proudly continues in Ecuador every year as it has for centuries.
I wasnt entirely sure what to expect but went with an open mind. The atmosphere was fantastic with sporadic cries of "Viva Quito" from a member of the audience and the response "El viva" from the crowd. The setting was a fair size amphitheatre (I thihnk thats what theyre called) and the seats were, well, concrete (now I know why they were selling cushions on the ...

... barely stand. Friday night! Ok, so the lads are off to town to get lary and go clubbing. Fine by me.

The lights go off on the bus again and the film resumes, I think it was Death Race actually, quite fitting for what was about to occur. Next thing we know there's a load of shouting at the back of the bus and some American guy goes to get the ticket guy. I reckon there's been a bit of a caffuffle between two guys but the Karma's definitely turned for ...

... t what it was like traveling in a place like this.

They als* t**k me f*r lunch in a l*cal restaurant, v**y int**esting! I had a Fritada which c*nsisted *f M*te Pill*, m*re p*rk, p*tat*, fried banana, av*cad* and a t*mat* and *ni*n salad. It was massive! It c*st ar*und $5 am**ican, but c*uld easily feed 2 pe*ple.

Ev**y*ne h**e eats a big meal f*r lunch and a snack f*r dinn**...its actually heaps bett**, I´m finding I sleep a l*t bett** as I havent ...

... and carry our bags back to the room. The room was massive for two people but very cold due to the tiled floors and we needed the several blankets that were on the bed but were still freezing as soon as we got out. The shower was also a disappointment and was quite cold or boiling hot but only for a few minutes. Luckily the hosts were lovely and were a family running the place but we were only one of the two guests staying there at the time.

The next day we decided to take ...

... in the bar (around 15 persons).
While watching the game I was trying to take on me the role of the anthropologist, observing and understanding the occurrences that happened. Though I didn’t rest my eyes much on the fans, instead I focused on the game and verbally and involved reacted upon how the game panned out. By what to me felt like an instinct, I was siding with the Ecuadorians, and that I think is easily understandable as I were in Ecuador, with Ecuadorians and personally ...

... this church, which was only built in 1926, is protected by a collection of South American animals: pelicans, iguanas, lizards, pumas, and armadillos. I take excessive photos of these creatures, perpetually maxing out my zoom - which has kind of started working again. After a year on the road, my camera, though only two years old, is in rough shape.

We enter the basilica and being our ascent to one of the towers. So far, I have not mentioned the shape of our bodies after a day ...

... for God Knows What by Don Miller, and a passage from the book reminds me of this girl, and how relationships between people can correspond with our relationship with God through Jesus.

p. 156 “It seems, rather, that Christ’s words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, were designed to bypass the memorization of ideas and cause us to wrestle with a certain need to cling to Him ...

... seems closed for the day (odd at 10am on a Friday) and the taxi driver tells me that he will take me to the border (and immigration) for $6. I agree and we are off. Surprisingly, the driver has a friend who rides shotgun and he tells me stories of how bad the border currently is. Ecuador and Peru are bitterly fighting, and tourist are getting robbed daily by the protesters. He takes me to immigration and I get the Peru exit stamp, then to the Peruvian ...

... scowling gestures and muttering things against English people making noise, so I let him have a piece of my mind and told him to go find another spot if he wanted some solitude, as the view was for all of us!

Next stop was to visit the old town of Quito - famed for its plethora of churches, as well as their distinct varieties. We made it there by a (very crowded) bus - quite easy to get pick pocketed I'd say. We saw the tomb of Simon Bolivar - the conquistador ...