Ecuador Part 5: Tulcan and Quito

I was hailing a taxi, but the guy wanted $3.50. I only had $3 so would have to pass a cash machine. Then a woman from Medellin asked if she could share the taxi and chip in a bit. Was fine by me. Had only just crossed the border, but was already missing Colombian company. She persuaded me it was late to get a bus and I should stay in the town for the night. I stated it was probably a good idea and checked into a hotel before heading for dinner with her. We ended up heading out to sing some Karaoke. The place was full of drunks and she was a better singer than me, but the machine was an idiot and ranked my version of November Rain as 97%. Hmm maybe if Axl Rose needs replacing I'm their man, but somehow I doubt it. The machine seemed biased towards Spanish songs in general. She sold jewelry in the streets of Ecuador and Peru etc and was staying behind to work. We had a power cut in the night. This would be recurring. It seems that the Ecuadorean government does not have sufficient power for its country. What a surprise. I did not remember this happening last time, but everyday I was in Ecuador we would be without power of somekind.

International House were not helpful with the job application and my results had still not been sent. I asked Leonardo if he could look into it for me. I mised the girl from Medellin for breakfast, but we agreed to meet up again in Bolivia if we got the chance. It had taken me precisely two hours to hate Ecuador again. Never takes long. Stupid bastards were really unhelpful in the streets. Colombia had also got to the U-17 semi finals. They would be smashed 4-1 by eventual winners Switzerland. I went off to Quito to meet Liz. The film seemed to involve Segal, Trejo and some dreadlock criminals. Looked good. Any film with both Trejo and Segal must be golden. Its like a major scene from our never written film 'Fight House'. I arrived late, because even Ecuadorean buses are incompetent. I could not find the hotel the girl from Medellin recommended so settled for any hotel and got some rest as Liz could not make it.

I went off to the old town. Liz did not turn up. Well actually she did, but she was late. They had all the Miss Quito contestants in the square. Its then that you know this country is quite ugly. They were all ok, but Lina is better looking than all of them. I got my pass grade B for the CELTA. Class. Difficult to get that, but I figured I had an outside chance, especially after the last lesson was delivered in front of the moderator. Ekhaterina got an A. Always thought she had a good chance after a monster run of Above Standards. I spoke to both of my parents as it had been awhile. Met another Ecuadorean retard. They taunt me everywhere.

'How much is this?'
'Its a lemonade'
Fuckwit. Of course that took place in Spanish.

I ended up going out with Liz and her quasi boyfriend/not really boyfriend/dude from Cuenca. Take you pick what you want to call him. She had not told me how much the gig was, so I had to go back to the hotel again as I had only brought $21. Entrance was $15. I met her twin sister as well. Very sexy. Dom missed out here. Sitting down in an old abandoned theatre for an electronic gig is kind of weird. Normally you dance. Still it was fun. Not sure if I swapped drinks for a drink that was spiked as felt a huge surge of energy and a little light headed later. Ended up flirting with the sister as Liz was with quasi man, but all of them had to study and I went back on my own. Had a bar themed on the Simpsons near my hotel, but I never ended up going there. Thought about it many times.

I wrote 'NO FUCKING LIGHT EVER: THIRD WORLD COUNTRY.' Sums it up pretty well. Was frustrating that my district was not allowed light in the mornings. I spent all day writing and Egypt got some late drama scoring in the 95th minute to get a one off replay with Algeria for the World Cup. New Zealand, Cameroon and Nigeria qualified. All the big African sides will be there for their continent's showpiece. Looks like they can mount a challenge this time. How the fuck New Zealand got there is a joke. Beat some Pacific Islanders and Bahrain. They should scrap the Ocenia qualifying zone and shove them all in Asia and give Asia 5 places. Liz and the girl from Medellin never made it so I ended up drinking with a Belgian, Estonian and some Ecuadoreans in La Mariscal. The Estonian guy thought me being British would mean he can't practice his Spanish. I spoke better Spanish than both of the guys.

I got up on the sunday and Liz was still not available. She was studying law and had to revise for all of the upcoming exams. She had 2 every day of that week. I thought I should just leave, but figured I had a lot of writing still to do so I would give it one more day. Always go with your instincts. I think I am now travelling in a much more sensible manner, with pacing and decision making, but then I am a very different person to a year ago. May even be able to see this when you read my earlier stuff. Will have to go back to check. I wrote 4 more chapters and was getting there. Saints are still killing it. Every time I adopt an American team they start doing well. Redsocks won their first world series in ages the year after I adopted them and the Saits are now 10-0 the year after I adopted them. Watch them take that first superbowl. Would have been good to watch the New England game tomorrow. Still not sure how they managed to lose to the Colts. Idiot decision making. Maybe Bellichick had some Ecuadorean advisors. Yoana was considering coming down from Mexico for Patagonia. Need to write to her actually. I considered the Galapagos again, but again ruled it out. Was not really doing much in Quito. I walked off to the cinema only to find out that it was full and I could not see anything.

I wrote in the morning 'seeing Liz today, want to sleep with her.' Hmm funny how you hit your predictions sometimes. Its odd being back up on reasonable real time for the blog. Stops me from using hindsight which I think ruins entries. I met Liz and we went for a tour of the old town before I kissed her. Got some lunch and then she came back to the hostel. Had to sneak past the guard at the front desk as no guests allowed. Was funny as I had moved back to the hostel I had stayed with Dom last time. I had the same 6 bed room and had it to myself again. Ended up sleeping with her in Dom's old bed. I thought that was ironically funny. Bunkbeds are crap`for this sort of thing though as one person's head is always in danger of getting whacked. I said I would move back to a hotel in the following days. She left to revise and I went and did some more writing. Still no fucking light so I went to sleep.