Day 39: Spanish Classes? (01/05/10)
Today I woke up and got ready for desayuno (breakfast). I had a roll (similar to a croissant, but not as flaky) that I filled with my egg, ham, cheese scramble, and juice and tea.
While I was waiting for my food (and while I was eating) I read a bilingual magazine about South American food. It made me want to go on an eating tour of South America. It is easy to find $1.50-$2.00 breakfasts and multi-course lunches (almuerzos), but I've got a feeling that at the right restaurants you could have a spectacular lunch for only a few dollars more. The $2.00 specials are filling, but there's nothing exceptional about any that I've had thus far.
After breakfast, I tidied my room and got ready to leave.
I headed first to the internet shop to respond to Santiago's email and to see if either of the schools had gotten back to me.
The schools had not replied yet so I just wrote back to Santiago.
I checked my other "emails" and Gabe had written to say that he got his passport application. I wonder if he knows he can go to the Multnomah County Building on Morrison and 11th for passport stuff? I will be ecstatic if he gets it in time to go to Costa Rica (or where ever)! I wrote a couple messages and then headed out for lunch.
I went to a place called "El Miel." I sat on the back porch. It's nice with lots of bright tiles and colors and a small garden. I saw a little tiny spider crawling around on the table. I went to relocate it and accidentally smashed it in the process. Sorry lil' guy.
I ordered Quinoa with mushrooms (and some other stuff) with a side of veggies and a cup of juice. The Quinoa was delicious and the juice is good too. Getting the bill however is taking forever. I think that's mostly due to the fact they only have one server who takes all the orders, runs all the food and makes all the drinks. 3 groups of people showed up right after I did too, so he's busy. The meal was delicious though. Hopefully, I can make it to the hotel before the rain starts (I left my raincoat and I'm wearing flip flops).
It never ended up raining. I made it to the internet shop. I got a couple new messages and wrote a few. I wrote to my mom, but I had to make it really short, because the power was going to go out any minute. Maybe after dinner I'll write a real one.
I went back to my hotel room and did some reading. I read "A Grief Observed," I got to page 70 then decided to take a nap for a couple hours.
It took me a bit to fall asleep and when my alarm went off it seemed too soon. I tried to sleep a while longer, but there was too much going on downstairs. I got up and got ready for dinner around 7:30.
I didn't have anything in mind for dinner so I started wandering down Calle Larga. I didn't see anything too promising so I headed up one of the cross streets and wound up at "Cafe Austria." In Margaret's guidebook they say that it is home to everything caffeinated, so I thought it was maybe only a coffee shop. Upon closer inspection I found there to be many tables of people eating meals, so I decided to give it a try.
I ordered mushroom tortellini (I think) and a glass of wine. I am sitting at the bar. While I wait for my food I check out their liquor supply. It's much better than most of the places I've been, but also more expensive.
They have some good happy hour prices though.
They have a whiskey called "Something Special," my guess is that it's probably not as good as they hope it sounds. I'm always wary of things and places that "toot their own horns." They also have a Heineken bottle that is the size and shape of a large wine bottle.
So it turns out, what I ordered is not tortellini, but it's still good. I ate a bit too much. It was very rich and it was a large serving.
After eating I walked back towards my hotel. I stopped in at the internet shop and wrote a longer reply to my mom. I also talked to Lisa on Skype chat, which was nice. I guess she's mostly been working at the NW store and that Harper quit. Harper quitting is a bummer. I really like her and working with her a lot. It's understandable though. She's got another job and wants to have more time to spend with her daughter.
I got to talk to Gabe for a bit on IM (instant messenger), which made me really happy. He's going to turn in his passport application tomorrow. I'll pee my pants if we get to take a trip together! We're supposed to talk again tomorrow.
I'm back at my hotel now and just about ready for bed. I'll probably try to finish "A Grief Observed" and then sleep.
While I was waiting for my food (and while I was eating) I read a bilingual magazine about South American food. It made me want to go on an eating tour of South America. It is easy to find $1.50-$2.00 breakfasts and multi-course lunches (almuerzos), but I've got a feeling that at the right restaurants you could have a spectacular lunch for only a few dollars more. The $2.00 specials are filling, but there's nothing exceptional about any that I've had thus far.
After breakfast, I tidied my room and got ready to leave.
I headed first to the internet shop to respond to Santiago's email and to see if either of the schools had gotten back to me.
The schools had not replied yet so I just wrote back to Santiago.
I checked my other "emails" and Gabe had written to say that he got his passport application. I wonder if he knows he can go to the Multnomah County Building on Morrison and 11th for passport stuff? I will be ecstatic if he gets it in time to go to Costa Rica (or where ever)! I wrote a couple messages and then headed out for lunch.
I went to a place called "El Miel." I sat on the back porch. It's nice with lots of bright tiles and colors and a small garden. I saw a little tiny spider crawling around on the table. I went to relocate it and accidentally smashed it in the process. Sorry lil' guy.
I ordered Quinoa with mushrooms (and some other stuff) with a side of veggies and a cup of juice. The Quinoa was delicious and the juice is good too. Getting the bill however is taking forever. I think that's mostly due to the fact they only have one server who takes all the orders, runs all the food and makes all the drinks. 3 groups of people showed up right after I did too, so he's busy. The meal was delicious though. Hopefully, I can make it to the hotel before the rain starts (I left my raincoat and I'm wearing flip flops).
It never ended up raining. I made it to the internet shop. I got a couple new messages and wrote a few. I wrote to my mom, but I had to make it really short, because the power was going to go out any minute. Maybe after dinner I'll write a real one.
I went back to my hotel room and did some reading. I read "A Grief Observed," I got to page 70 then decided to take a nap for a couple hours.
It took me a bit to fall asleep and when my alarm went off it seemed too soon. I tried to sleep a while longer, but there was too much going on downstairs. I got up and got ready for dinner around 7:30.
I didn't have anything in mind for dinner so I started wandering down Calle Larga. I didn't see anything too promising so I headed up one of the cross streets and wound up at "Cafe Austria." In Margaret's guidebook they say that it is home to everything caffeinated, so I thought it was maybe only a coffee shop. Upon closer inspection I found there to be many tables of people eating meals, so I decided to give it a try.
I ordered mushroom tortellini (I think) and a glass of wine. I am sitting at the bar. While I wait for my food I check out their liquor supply. It's much better than most of the places I've been, but also more expensive.
They have some good happy hour prices though.
They have a whiskey called "Something Special," my guess is that it's probably not as good as they hope it sounds. I'm always wary of things and places that "toot their own horns." They also have a Heineken bottle that is the size and shape of a large wine bottle.
So it turns out, what I ordered is not tortellini, but it's still good. I ate a bit too much. It was very rich and it was a large serving.
After eating I walked back towards my hotel. I stopped in at the internet shop and wrote a longer reply to my mom. I also talked to Lisa on Skype chat, which was nice. I guess she's mostly been working at the NW store and that Harper quit. Harper quitting is a bummer. I really like her and working with her a lot. It's understandable though. She's got another job and wants to have more time to spend with her daughter.
I got to talk to Gabe for a bit on IM (instant messenger), which made me really happy. He's going to turn in his passport application tomorrow. I'll pee my pants if we get to take a trip together! We're supposed to talk again tomorrow.
I'm back at my hotel now and just about ready for bed. I'll probably try to finish "A Grief Observed" and then sleep.
Day 40: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (01/06/10)
Today I woke up early. There are people with young kids staying here now. The combination of kids and church bells was too much for me.
I finally gave up and got out of bed around 9.
This morning at breakfast I read more of the culinary magazine on South American food and restaurants. Today breakfast was the same as usual, plus some jam for the roll. The roll today was different, denser.
After breakfast I came upstairs to shower and the power was already out. Hopefully, it'll be back on after only a couple hours.I showered in the dark. The room has decent light because of a big window to the courtyard, but the bathroom only has a tiny window near the ceiling (so it was dark).
After showering and dressing, I wrote a few letters then headed to the internet shop. I wound up staying a lot longer than I had anticipated.
I wrote to a few people and wrote more of my blog. I'm finally updated through all the entries in my first notebook.
Some of what I write in the notebooks I'm not sure if I should share on the blog. I've been leaving bits and pieces out, but sometimes it feels like I'm basically leaving out half of the entry.
I think my fever is back again. I really really hope I'm not actually sick.
The guy sitting next to me (well, 3 feet away, but that's more than close enough) at the computer place was obviously pleasuring himself to something on the computer. He kept looking at me and I couldn't tell if he was checking to see if I was noticing, or to trying to get me to notice. I wish I knew how to say "GO SCREW YOURSELF SOMEWHERE ELSE, PERV," in Spanish, but unfortunately I don't.
Gabe payed for his passport, it's gonna be 4-6 weeks (which is about what I thought it'd be). He found some really cheap airline tickets, but when I looked for round trip flights out of Ecuador I didn't have such luck. It's really expensive to fly internationally from Ecuador. I wrote him and suggested that maybe I could just buy a one way ticket to meet him and then a one way ticket back to the U.S. instead. Or we could always wait until I get back to go.
I need to find out about tickets to Venezuela.
After writing Gabe I headed back to the hotel, peed, drank lots of water, and then headed to the bank.
I only took out $200 because carrying more than that makes me nervous.
It seems to have gone ok, so hopefully the bank doesn't put any holds on my account.
I came right back to the hotel and transferred the money from my wallet to my passport pouch.
I ate some granola.
On the way to the bank I figured out where I'm going to have dinner tonight, "Zoe." I remember reading a review of it in Margaret's guidebook.
Right now I'm going to try to take a short nap before dinner.
The nap was more or less a failure. I basically just listened to music for an hour and a half. My burned arms are starting to itch a bit.
When I got up I got dressed and headed out. The restaurant is only 3(ish) blocks from my hotel. It felt like it was gonna rain, hopefully it doesn't dump on me when I leave.
I ordered an Apple Martini (on special) and Eggplant lasagna. The restaurant looks nice, but it's virtually empty. There is one other table of people. Two women, a man joined them later. The women sound like my worst nightmare. They're here for some type of conference. I get the impression that they're maybe not as dumb as they sound, but it's hard to tell. I would much prefer to listen to the music than their conversation though.
They struggled to remember how to say uno más. The one woman kept going on and on about how something at the conference lists the guy as her esposa then explains to the other woman that that means spouse. Ugh.
The drink was good, I'm glad I took my Pepcid before coming to dinner, though. The lasagna was really good, but I ate too much of it.
After finishing dinner, I came back to my room for a second, then hit the computer shop. Luckily it stayed busy enough tonight that he stayed open late. I got to talk to Gabe for a while. He's thinking about moving out of his house (apparently his sketcher creepy roommate is also thinking about moving). That (apartment searching) and the job search when I get back are two things I don't want to think about right now.
We talk about possible trip stuff for a while.
When Gabe and I are done talking, I head back to the hotel. I read for a bit and do a little reading, then it's bed time. I'm exhausted. My missions for tomorrow: Sushi for lunch (another place that Margaret's book recommended) and signing up for Spanish!
I finally gave up and got out of bed around 9.
This morning at breakfast I read more of the culinary magazine on South American food and restaurants. Today breakfast was the same as usual, plus some jam for the roll. The roll today was different, denser.
After breakfast I came upstairs to shower and the power was already out. Hopefully, it'll be back on after only a couple hours.I showered in the dark. The room has decent light because of a big window to the courtyard, but the bathroom only has a tiny window near the ceiling (so it was dark).
After showering and dressing, I wrote a few letters then headed to the internet shop. I wound up staying a lot longer than I had anticipated.
I wrote to a few people and wrote more of my blog. I'm finally updated through all the entries in my first notebook.
Some of what I write in the notebooks I'm not sure if I should share on the blog. I've been leaving bits and pieces out, but sometimes it feels like I'm basically leaving out half of the entry.
I think my fever is back again. I really really hope I'm not actually sick.
The guy sitting next to me (well, 3 feet away, but that's more than close enough) at the computer place was obviously pleasuring himself to something on the computer. He kept looking at me and I couldn't tell if he was checking to see if I was noticing, or to trying to get me to notice. I wish I knew how to say "GO SCREW YOURSELF SOMEWHERE ELSE, PERV," in Spanish, but unfortunately I don't.
Gabe payed for his passport, it's gonna be 4-6 weeks (which is about what I thought it'd be). He found some really cheap airline tickets, but when I looked for round trip flights out of Ecuador I didn't have such luck. It's really expensive to fly internationally from Ecuador. I wrote him and suggested that maybe I could just buy a one way ticket to meet him and then a one way ticket back to the U.S. instead. Or we could always wait until I get back to go.
I need to find out about tickets to Venezuela.
After writing Gabe I headed back to the hotel, peed, drank lots of water, and then headed to the bank.
I only took out $200 because carrying more than that makes me nervous.
It seems to have gone ok, so hopefully the bank doesn't put any holds on my account.
I came right back to the hotel and transferred the money from my wallet to my passport pouch.
I ate some granola.
On the way to the bank I figured out where I'm going to have dinner tonight, "Zoe." I remember reading a review of it in Margaret's guidebook.
Right now I'm going to try to take a short nap before dinner.
The nap was more or less a failure. I basically just listened to music for an hour and a half. My burned arms are starting to itch a bit.
When I got up I got dressed and headed out. The restaurant is only 3(ish) blocks from my hotel. It felt like it was gonna rain, hopefully it doesn't dump on me when I leave.
I ordered an Apple Martini (on special) and Eggplant lasagna. The restaurant looks nice, but it's virtually empty. There is one other table of people. Two women, a man joined them later. The women sound like my worst nightmare. They're here for some type of conference. I get the impression that they're maybe not as dumb as they sound, but it's hard to tell. I would much prefer to listen to the music than their conversation though.
They struggled to remember how to say uno más. The one woman kept going on and on about how something at the conference lists the guy as her esposa then explains to the other woman that that means spouse. Ugh.
The drink was good, I'm glad I took my Pepcid before coming to dinner, though. The lasagna was really good, but I ate too much of it.
After finishing dinner, I came back to my room for a second, then hit the computer shop. Luckily it stayed busy enough tonight that he stayed open late. I got to talk to Gabe for a while. He's thinking about moving out of his house (apparently his sketcher creepy roommate is also thinking about moving). That (apartment searching) and the job search when I get back are two things I don't want to think about right now.
We talk about possible trip stuff for a while.
When Gabe and I are done talking, I head back to the hotel. I read for a bit and do a little reading, then it's bed time. I'm exhausted. My missions for tomorrow: Sushi for lunch (another place that Margaret's book recommended) and signing up for Spanish!
Day 41: Sushi (01/07/10)
Today I woke up later than intended. I had set an alarm for 7:45, but forgot to actually "activate" it, so it didn't go off. I woke up at 9:15, threw on some pants and went downstairs for desayuno.
I started reading "She's Come Undone" last night and brought it with me to breakfast. The owner "tisk-tisked" me and said "en Espagñol." He's probably right, it's probably easier to learn if I stop spending so much time reading and writing in English and allow myself to struggle with Spanish. The writing would be difficult to give up, but the reading would be do-able.
I stopped myself at chapter 5.
After breakfast the owner started talking to me about how the other tourists were drunk last night and made a mess of the water station. I told him I had heard it last night. He was starting to impersonate them being drunk, but stopped because they were about to walk by. He's pretty funny, I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see the whole reenactment. One of the girls that was with them began apologizing profusely, again.
I walked upstairs, got changed and headed out to check Spanish school prices again. I emailed one of the schools because on their website it shows that they do individual one week sessions, but doesn't list a price. I wanted to look up a few more things, but the internet was slow and the power was about to go out.
I went back to the hotel briefly and then decided to head to "Sakura Sushi" for lunch. I would be highly skeptical, but Margaret's guidebook said that this place was good. It's located across the street from Rio Tomebamba, so the view is very nice from the front window.
I ordered miso soup, a California roll and a limonada (lemonade).
I think I got 200% of my daily recommendation of sodium (the lemonade alone was 69% of the DV for less than half of the bottle).
The miso was good. Instead of having tofu it had thinly sliced mushrooms. The California roll was good but the rice was weird. The texture was like they had smashed the rice pretty flat and then rolled it. I always have a difficult time with really loose rice, but I'd much rather loose rice to smashed rice. The flavor was good though. I'm stuffed (again). I think I'll have a small dinner tonight.
I came back to the hotel after eating and did some writing.
I'm torn about a lot of this trip. I can't decide if I can really revive it at this point. I think it would be much better to just go home and plan a different trip later. First I need to decide about Venezuela and Peru and buy my Galapagos stuff.
I think for now I need to forget about Margaret and just worry about plans for myself (since she isn't communicating with me). I need to start making moves or the impending stress will crush me.
After a nap (I kept waking up because I was drooling on myself), I head to dinner.
It becomes almost immediately apparent that I picked the wrong place for small portions, but once seated I feel obligated to stay.
I don't know what I ordered, but the ingredients sound good, so hopefully it will be.
I struggled to decide on a drink and then decided to just go for some water. The black Russian was enticing though, maybe that will be dessert?
I think after dinner tonight I will go ahead and just sign up for the Simon Bolivar Spanish school. Their prices are the most reasonable and the other school probably hasn't replied to my email yet (judging from their prices for other programs the individual sessions are probably pretty expensive).
I'm supposed to write Gabe tonight, but I don't know what to say.
So, my dinner wound up being all the yummy ingredients piled on top of fried green plantains. Definitely NOT a small amount of food.
Eating alone is turning me into a 15 minute binge-r again (like I was while working at Kells). Tonight I stopped myself early, thankfully, but still ate too much.
After dinner I headed to the internet shop.
The other school (CEDEI) replied to the message I sent earlier that day. Their individual program is only $200 also. I was ready to sign up for Simon Bolivar, but now I'm torn.
The Simon Bolivar school also finally got back to my previous message. Their individual program (because of a promotion this month) is a little cheaper.
I emailed the CEDEI lady back and said I would try to come in tomorrow. I need to remember to ask her about meeting other people while in the individual program. The Bolivar school has weekly activities where you can meet people from the group classes, but I don't know about opportunities at CEDEI.
I wrote Gabe and babbled about a bunch of stuff, but of course, I forgot all the things I wanted to say as soon as I sat in front of the computer.
I got to talk to Alina and Carolyn for a bit, which was really nice.
I also got a message from Rafael saying that as long as I come to Caracas while he's there then I can stay with them. I looked for tickets and found some for under $400. I asked if the weekend of the 22nd would work, we'll see what he says.
After the internet place, I came back to the hotel and read about 100 pages of my book, then slept.
I started reading "She's Come Undone" last night and brought it with me to breakfast. The owner "tisk-tisked" me and said "en Espagñol." He's probably right, it's probably easier to learn if I stop spending so much time reading and writing in English and allow myself to struggle with Spanish. The writing would be difficult to give up, but the reading would be do-able.
I stopped myself at chapter 5.
After breakfast the owner started talking to me about how the other tourists were drunk last night and made a mess of the water station. I told him I had heard it last night. He was starting to impersonate them being drunk, but stopped because they were about to walk by. He's pretty funny, I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see the whole reenactment. One of the girls that was with them began apologizing profusely, again.
I walked upstairs, got changed and headed out to check Spanish school prices again. I emailed one of the schools because on their website it shows that they do individual one week sessions, but doesn't list a price. I wanted to look up a few more things, but the internet was slow and the power was about to go out.
I went back to the hotel briefly and then decided to head to "Sakura Sushi" for lunch. I would be highly skeptical, but Margaret's guidebook said that this place was good. It's located across the street from Rio Tomebamba, so the view is very nice from the front window.
I ordered miso soup, a California roll and a limonada (lemonade).
I think I got 200% of my daily recommendation of sodium (the lemonade alone was 69% of the DV for less than half of the bottle).
The miso was good. Instead of having tofu it had thinly sliced mushrooms. The California roll was good but the rice was weird. The texture was like they had smashed the rice pretty flat and then rolled it. I always have a difficult time with really loose rice, but I'd much rather loose rice to smashed rice. The flavor was good though. I'm stuffed (again). I think I'll have a small dinner tonight.
I came back to the hotel after eating and did some writing.
I'm torn about a lot of this trip. I can't decide if I can really revive it at this point. I think it would be much better to just go home and plan a different trip later. First I need to decide about Venezuela and Peru and buy my Galapagos stuff.
I think for now I need to forget about Margaret and just worry about plans for myself (since she isn't communicating with me). I need to start making moves or the impending stress will crush me.
After a nap (I kept waking up because I was drooling on myself), I head to dinner.
It becomes almost immediately apparent that I picked the wrong place for small portions, but once seated I feel obligated to stay.
I don't know what I ordered, but the ingredients sound good, so hopefully it will be.
I struggled to decide on a drink and then decided to just go for some water. The black Russian was enticing though, maybe that will be dessert?
I think after dinner tonight I will go ahead and just sign up for the Simon Bolivar Spanish school. Their prices are the most reasonable and the other school probably hasn't replied to my email yet (judging from their prices for other programs the individual sessions are probably pretty expensive).
I'm supposed to write Gabe tonight, but I don't know what to say.
So, my dinner wound up being all the yummy ingredients piled on top of fried green plantains. Definitely NOT a small amount of food.
Eating alone is turning me into a 15 minute binge-r again (like I was while working at Kells). Tonight I stopped myself early, thankfully, but still ate too much.
After dinner I headed to the internet shop.
The other school (CEDEI) replied to the message I sent earlier that day. Their individual program is only $200 also. I was ready to sign up for Simon Bolivar, but now I'm torn.
The Simon Bolivar school also finally got back to my previous message. Their individual program (because of a promotion this month) is a little cheaper.
I emailed the CEDEI lady back and said I would try to come in tomorrow. I need to remember to ask her about meeting other people while in the individual program. The Bolivar school has weekly activities where you can meet people from the group classes, but I don't know about opportunities at CEDEI.
I wrote Gabe and babbled about a bunch of stuff, but of course, I forgot all the things I wanted to say as soon as I sat in front of the computer.
I got to talk to Alina and Carolyn for a bit, which was really nice.
I also got a message from Rafael saying that as long as I come to Caracas while he's there then I can stay with them. I looked for tickets and found some for under $400. I asked if the weekend of the 22nd would work, we'll see what he says.
After the internet place, I came back to the hotel and read about 100 pages of my book, then slept.
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