la ronda

i woke up ready and eager to start work as mariana had informed me the night before. however, the doctor/director had an emergency so i wouldn't be starting until monday. 

so, mariana took me into her hands, and unfortunately her car, (the same one i had first driven in when i arrived) and found it to appear even worse during the daytime. along with her driving. people here are crazy ass drivers. traffic rules are totally guidelines. no, i take that back, merely suggestions. 

la ronda during the day

as i ran errands with her, we also ran with the weather. miguel told me that in quito the weather is like a woman, it constantly changes. one minute there was sun, the next it was pouring rain, and five minutes later it was both sunny and raining at the same time. 

nancy, juan josé, me, royal, and aracely

after meeting a few other volunteers, saying good-bye to one, and greeting another at the airport, i left for la ronda with nancy, aracely, juan josé, royal, and gustavo. la ronda is an area in the colonial part of quito that i had walked through during my city-tour with miguel. but at night, it was a whole different world. this is a quarter that used to be a neighborhood for aristocrats, later became an area for thieves and prostitutes, and now has been restored to a center for bars and restaurants. it is a location for tourists and locals, young and old, filled with open shops, street vendors selling food and drink, and music streaming out of the locales. we went into one restaurant and ordered canelazo, a typical ecuadorian drink made with orange juice, a very strong liquor (apparently stronger than tequila), and other added sweets. as the music (heartrending, ballad-type songs known as pasillos) flowed up through the courtyard to the second floor where we were sitting, quito felt so enchanting. 

la ronda at night

after eating some finger food, we took a trolleybus and literally flew down the streets toward home. i went to bed with the pasillos still beautifully ringing in my ears.