Weekend Update!

Thank GOD it's the weekend! I can't believe how slowly this past week went by. Up until now, the time has been FLYING, seriously flying! I go to bed one night and wake up in the morning and a whole month has gone by. But not this week, no of course not. Anyways, I was more than excited when the clock his 9:30 on Friday morning, because my weekend had begun!



Yesterday during the day I took Chuki with me on my run. I only take him with when they're short runs, as boxers shouldn't run too much when they're puppies. Plus, he isn't very good when we run together. He likes to jump up and catch the leash in his mouth and he has a serious issue with bikers, rollerbladers and skateboarders. I'm not sure if he's afraid of them or just really likes them. (As we don't have a bike, rollerblades or a skateboard we can't really experiment.) Ryan and I spent the afternoon cleaning up and getting those things that just get overlooked during the week done (read - windex the mirrors, clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, etc.). I got to talk with my dear friend Toby, to wish her a happy birthday and then we had Sarah, Corine, Sebas and his friend Laura over before our big night on the town!

Last night, Ryan and I went on our first Chiva! What is a Chiva you might ask? If you were to combine a cultural bus tour with a trolley party you'd have a Chiva. Basically its this open air bus, complete with disco lights and loud music, that you pack about 50 people onto for a couple of hours of dancing and drinking canelazo!

The Chiva bus!

The Canelazo in the 'cup-on-string.'

What is canelazo, you ask now? Well here's the wiki article! Don't worry folks, we'll be making this beauty when we're home for Christmas so you can all try it! The trick is to find the right kind of alcohol to make it with. Traditionally it's made with a liquor called pajaro azul (blue bird). We're working on getting a couple of bottles to bring home. You can't buy it in Quito, for some reason, so Jhon's friend is going to bring it from Guaranda for us.

Because of the race on Sunday, I couldn't drink a lot but the Canelazo was nice because it was warm! It was a very fun night out, particularly because we haven't been out dancing in ages!

Today, Ryan has 2 soccer games that he's planning on watching and I plan on using that time to make a dent in The Penguin History of Latin America. Then this afternoon, we're going to go to the race expo and pick up my packet! After back and forth emails in spanish with the coordinators of the race, it turns out I am officially registered! Then we're going to go to the movie theater to buy our tickets to one of the Harry Potter showings Sunday after the race. Ryan has a big dinner planned for me tonight, which I find very sweet. He's been making sure that I've been getting enough carbs and plenty of healthy snacks! Usually after I run, I'm just not hungry at all.

Then first thing tomorrow morning we'll go to Plaza de Toros for the race. I'm really excited! The race starts at the Bull Fighting stadium and ends at the Middle of the World. There's about a 400 meter elevation change throughout the race. Which I'm not looking forward to. Then after the race, I'm excited for paila in Pomasqui! Paila is this ice cream that they make with a big copper bowl with ice under it. Pomasqui, a city right by Mitad del Mundo, supposedly has the best paila in all of Ecuador! Then we'll go and see Harry Potter! And after that I'll probably want a nap.

Such a fun weekend! And to think, we only have 2 more weekends left until we're home! WOW! And both of those are full already with Thanksgiving feasts and Christmas shopping!

MULUB,
Taylor