Foggy Quito and even foggier me

Please disregard all comparisons between Quito and Central America. They are unfounded and ignorant. Please refer to post from 3/17 for an explanation. Also please ignore all whining. (3/17/08)




Nobody told me that Quito was completely covered in clouds, all day every day. The sun peeked out today for the very first time since I arrived (five days ago!), but was quickly banished from sight. Well, I was told it was the rainy season, so perhaps this makes sense. No worries, at least I´m on the Equator, so it must be warm and wet at least. NO! Wrong again. It´s damned cold. And of course I did not bring anything resembling warm clothes. It kind of feels like Seattle in the winter actually, always cold and damp, but at least I had the good sense to wear warm clothes back home.

I´ve now been here long enough for it to feel normal to be here. For example, this was the first morning that i woke up expecting to be in Quito. It is really quite a jarring experience to be half-awake and hear a foreign language being spoken in the room down the hall. Whaaaaaaaat? Where the hell am I? Oh, right, Quito, Ecuador. I live here now.

I find it very strange how fast we humans acclimatize to new realities. Despite the fact that everything is still ¨new¨, i´ve already started seeing things as normal. I see this as my brain shortcutting the overwhelming amount of information it is receiving. Rather than take note of all the intricacies of new and foreign place, my brain just deals with basic survival. Like dodging taxi cabs. And staring at every single sign that is in some way related to food. As in New York, everyone eats out here, so there are an absurd amount of restaurants. Unlike in New York, they are incredibly cheap. $10 a day is way more than enough for three very good meals. The variety is really surprising. Good Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Italian, ¨fusion¨, American, English pub fare, all sorts of Ecuadorian cuisine and of course plenty of KFC. I had no idea it was so popular here. Zero McDonalds, dozens of KFC´s.

Whoops. Got sidetracked on food again. That´ll happen.

All of my expectations for Quito and South America in general were based on my experiences in Guatemala and Nicaragua. In retrospect, this is absurd. But so is the notion of retrospection. Getting back to my previous observation about brain streamlining, it took me a few days to realize that Quito is completely different than Guate or Nica. The absensce of trash in Quito is stunning compared to Central American cities, along with far less stray dogs and associated dog shit. There is a surprisingly strong ethic against littering here.

I´ve settled down nicely. I´m enrolled in a language school, i´ve got the lay of the land (under the clouds, and without the aid of volcanoes for a compass), i´m living in an apartment with a couple Quitenas (friends of a friend) just outside the very happening La Mariscal district. I´ve got a favorite cafe with a great happy hour special on cocktails. I´ve even found a couple brewpubs, which brew real beer, to supplement the traditionally poor Latin American light lager.

First impressions are in, and I really like this town. Quitenos really dig living here. They would never dream of living in the US. Going back to Central American comparisons, I was astounded by how often I met people in Nica or Guate whose driving motivation was to somehow make it into the United States. These were smart, young, ambitious people, often with professional degrees. Yet they knew they would make more money illegally in the States than in Guate or Nica. Quito has money. It´s very different. The young people here have good enough jobs to rent an apartment in the city and go out partying till 2am, 3am, 4am.

It´s very cloudy outside, and I believe that is effecting my brain. Just can´t stick to a coherent storyline.

As for Ecuador´s famed volcanoes...I have yet to see them. Apparently Quito is surrounded by 5000m plus volcanoes. We shall see.