šŖšØ Itchimbia Parque/Quito - 11.27.23
This is my third trip to this country in just this year, and it was feeling quite surreal when I was taxied from the airport and on the way to Quito. Seeing places that were familiar to me. The smell, the lights, the clouds. Maybe I was punch drunk but I was full of energy, even after 14 hours of travel. My Spanish is slowly improving and I enjoyed a small talk conversation with the taxi driver on the way into town.
I had set up the room with the couple I had met and stayed with last visit - but I wasnāt supposed to arrive for another day - so I showed up at the door of my amiga, OtroVerĆ²nica, on the North side of town where dinner and hugs were waiting.
I spent the first couple of days settling inā¦ getting fruits and snacks and walks and rest. Making rounds, visiting with my friends - sans the Boliviana belly dancer I met the first time I was here who is two and half hands full of trouble and an entire chapter onto herself. I do like a bit of trouble to keep the life spicyā¦ but I need one hand to hold onto my hat this round so moments with the dancer will have to be another time.
I rarely make plans ahead and tend to just show up and figure it out as I go. This was no different. Apparently Quito Fest begins this week and there will be all kinds of events and drunk-ass Ecuadoreans running around. Thereās a new President here and his first day of work was Thursday. Plus all kinds of other things I didnāt know about but would soon discover because I would be standing in the middle of it.
VerĆ²nica and I were wondering in Centro HistĆ³rico and stubbled by the Presidential House/Palaceā¦ he happened to be scheduled for an appearance at that time and the plaza was full of peopleā¦ so we sat and waited. There were a number of Indigenous peoples from many different regions wanting to see the new Presidente. My friend explained to me that they all have unique dress - and I found it immensely interesting and beautiful. Much more appealing than seeing a politician.
The new guyās name is Daniel. And cars full of dignataries were arriving by military escorts and there was a lot of waiting. The people chanted āqueremos Daniel!!ā Ummmā¦ Daniel was late for his appearance - so we left. We walked down to the nearby picturesque Calle de La Ronda in centro histĆ³rico and there was shop that sold big-ass empanadasā¦ and that my friends - is impressive to me. A gigantic empanada. I could generally not give two shits about any mouthpiece politicians, in any part of planet earthā¦ itās about people, food, and nature thingsā¦ at least todayā¦ at least for me.
The next surprise event was Black Friday. My amiga knows about American Thanksgiving but its not common knowledge in the Latin America world. And how the hell does a South American city have Black Friday? And we all should know the answer to that. I was pointed to a large store that would have some kombucha I was searching forā¦ and yupā¦ absolute craziness. Thousands of brown-eyed peeps and one blue-eyed boy in the mosh pit that is known as Black Friday shopping. I retrieved my kombuchaā¦ and I want you to know friendsā¦ I didnāt even cry one time.
On Saturday my companion and I went to Itchimbia Park on top of a hill where there would be a free concert all weekend. We bused and taxied up thereā¦ and grabbed lunch at a cafe with spectacular views as we waited for the gates to open.
The sun was shiningā¦ and it was almost hotā¦ we finished our food and sleepily pulled ourselves away from our comfy chairs and headed towards the gates. There were people around the gates selling ponchos and other things but I didnāt pay attention. They had a large force of security at the entrance. The poncho folks started barking at me, āno correa!!!!ā āTu correa!!!ā shaking heads and pointing at my belt. I didnāt know the word they were saying. I know ācinturĆ³nā as the word for belt in Spanishā¦ but i have been to enough shows to understand what was happening.
I have been wearing a punky grommet belt since the early 90s. I have had to replace it 3 different times in my lifeā¦ you seeā¦ the diameter of my midsection has magically increased over the yearsā¦ or possibly the belt has shrank. I donāt know what is happeningā¦ Iām not a doctor. Iāve purchased all of them at FashioNation in Denver, and if you know that storeā¦ you know. #punkrock4ever
Anyways, I would rather not give up my cherished belt at the gate of any concertā¦ and my pants would fall down. No one wants to see that! Stillā¦ the people continued to bark at me. I made it to security. My friend went into a long ramble with the security in Spanish. I picked up a bitā¦ but the gist was āheās a foreignerā¦ and he doesnāt knowā¦ he needs itā¦ heās not from hereā The security guard said āokā¦ un momentoā and went off to ask someone. He returned and asked me to follow himā¦ he pulled me through the packs of security people and then he found someone and asks if itās okay to let a wee blue-eyed foreigner in with an offensive weapon belt. That person then turned to ask anotherā¦ and that person looked at my beltā¦ then my faceā¦ and shrugged and said āok,ā and pointed her lips to the entrance.
Tangent timeā¦ it has been my experience that South American women point directions with their lips. I dated a gal from Venezuela in Denver a few years agoā¦ Iād ask where something was and she pointed with her lips, āthere.ā š This gesture has been repeated on this southern continent and it will forever make me smile.
Soā¦ āLa Jefaā of the security points with her lips at the entranceā¦ I shaked the hand of the security that brought me up and thanked him much. He had a huge grin and I made my way past the rest of the chumps that were getting the full shake down. It was mostly teens and 20 somethings and they were full of āWTFā looks as I strolled through. Sometimes itās good to play the dumb lost gringo. I guess thereās not much playing on my endā¦ but heyā¦ my pants are being held up comfortably suckas!
Typical all day show. Loud tunes, angsty teenagers, food booths. Soā¦ time for food again. We circled and decided on proteins, because most meals here are served with 3 different carbs and I will need to buy a new grommet belt if I continue to be here. Things barbecued on a stick was the choice. I picked chicken and the food gal brought over my snacks on a stick as we sat under the tent. One biteā¦ two bitesā¦ it was super tender. Too tender. I looked at the meat in the lightā¦ and yupā¦ it was raw insideā¦ and yuck. Oh greatā¦ I am not going to die from a fiery motorcycle crash trying to jump over the Colorado river as prophesied by my Imaginationā¦ Iām going to die from food born bacteria in a far off landā¦ or possibly a Bolivian belly dancer that pushed me off a cliff after eating tainted food.
I was feeling a bit anxious about the chicken considering my last recent illness I acquired leaving Scotlandā¦ and that anxiousness lasted about 2 minutesā¦ because I had looked up and massive clouds were rolling down the mountain in our direction. The food lady changed gears and pulled out a handful of plastic ponchos, āone dollar!ā I shook my head and thought there is no way Iām wearing a pastel colored plastic poncho. We have an umbrella and it will totally coverup my cool punk rock belt that NO one else has here. - VeronĆca bought two and handed me oneā¦ and the skies openedā¦ and i put my ponchĆ³ on like a good lad.
We watched the show for some moments and I marveled at folks standing on mounds and under trees during a thunderstorm. Yupā¦ Iām gonna die from tainted chicken and a lighting strike. It wasnāt long before the storm hit with full force. Everyone scrambled. We stood under a tree with our umbrella and our colorful plastic ponchos with many others. The pocho would repel waterā¦ but the water would drain down onto the back of your pants. The water then would run down the back of your leg and fill your shoes. Oh yay.
PSAā¦ if you want to break in a pair of docsā¦ they need to be filled with rain water (not regular water)ā¦ stand in a mud puddleā¦ with you in them. Then jog one kilometer to a taxiā¦ at the end of the day you will have one pair of āformed to your feetā broken in doc marten boots.
The ground was now saturated and the shoes were at capacityā¦ and weād yet to be struck by lightingā¦ so we headed to the pavilion and squeezed our way into the center for a dry place to stand. We were surrounded by a thousand annoying teenagers talking nonsence and giggling at anything. Oh greatā¦ Iām gonna die in a far off land by the sounds of screeching teenagers that melted my brain.
I woke the next dayā¦ which means I didnāt meet my demise from any of the above. Iām in my San Juan home-base next to the BasĆlica and the contemporary Art museum and feeling content. No stomach pains, no electrical burns, no melted brainā¦ and itās time to search for food again. I will be playing it safe on this day so I found a vegetarian restaurant near. There were pseudo hippies leaving as I arrived. There was a bloke that had dreadlocks longer than I had ever seen. If you think youāve seen long dreadlocksā¦ add 3 feet. This guy.
The waiter was just a regular dude. I had asked him if he spoke English and he shook his head frantically ānooooooo!ā He seemed to be quite happy when I began to speak Spanish. The peoples there were all super friendly and walking around in Hindu garb. A little chica walked by and smiled amd said ābuen provechoā it made me smile. I asked regular dude if this was an Ashram. It was. They had homemade kombucha and that made me extra. My vegan paella was fantastic and I enjoyed all of my moments there and there were no more thoughts of what was going to kill me on this lovely southern continent of the americas.
More adventures this weekā¦ possibly head into the amazonā¦ maybe to the cloud forestā¦ and then next week onto the beautiful city of Cuencaā¦ and one thousand words and ten thousand pictures ofā¦
šŖšØšš„°
