Como se dice, "big beer"??

Coffee in Quito, on the whole, doesn’t seem to be as good as in Costa Rica, but the public restrooms are cheaper…

…although I’m still not certain if the old women sitting at the doors, demanding a nickel per use (or a dime if you need paper), are legitimate empleadas or just savvy entrepreneurs. 

We have found one place with really good coffee, though: El Cafecito, which is conveniently located not far from our new home, Hostal Alcala. We only go to El Cafecito for coffees, usually right before or right after lunch, because their food is priced rather high, especially when we can get an almuerzo for just two or three dollars per person at any one of the hundreds of little cafes in this densely populated city. 

And smoggy. Oh lord. We met a British couple and they told us that they don’t look for a bus when they need a ride somewhere, they just look for a big black cloud that rolls down the street. This might be a slight exaggeration, but it isn’t much of one. The combination of the city’s elevation (about 3000 meters) with its anti-Prius emission controls, leave Joy and I gasping for breath much of the time. It’s beautiful though, in a big-damn-city sort of way. 

But I got off track a little. I wanted to explain that almuerzos are set lunches, usually comprised of soup to start, followed by a segundo, which is meat of some kind (beef, chicken, fish) with rice or potato and a small side salad, and then a small dessert, which usually looks a lot like fruit of some kind (and not at all like dessert should look), and served with a glass of freshly-squeezed fruit juice. I would tell you the kinds of fruits used, but I’m not certain if I can pronounce or spell any of them (e.g. guanabana???). 

Anyhow, like I said, these meals are quite cheap, which makes them the perfect lunch for a couple who is trying to stretch a meager budget into April and avoid the verguenza of having to come home early due to lack of funds. They are so well priced that we can justify them even when we know that either Joy is going to get stuck with potatoes or I am going to get stuck with chicken, or both.  We usually have no trouble justifying ice cream or cookies with our coffees afterwards either!

We don’t usually eat breakfast out anywhere, though, choosing instead to eat the free toast and eggs and fruit at the hostal; it ain’t bad, but it ain’t gallo pinto either, if you know what I mean.

Dinners in Quito can be quite reasonably priced as well- if you don’t count the ‘date-night’ dinner at the Italian restaurant last night- and often come with 20oz bottles of Pilsenser, the national Ecuadorian beer. Prior to being de vacaciones in Sudamerica, I didn’t know I was capable of drinking a 20oz bottle of beer- or two- but it turns out I am! Joy, of course, never had any such self-doubt.

Okay, so I’ve spent most of this note talking about food rather than the Spanish-speaking lessons that were the original reason for our extended stay in the city, but that’s because the dumb bastards from the school never picked us up at the airport, as planned. I believe Joy has previously mentioned that we were stood up at the dance, but I don’t think that she mentioned that our Plan B was to do self-study with the books we got from the school in Costa Rica. You don’t need to wonder how Plan B turned out if you were paying attention during the ‘20oz bottle’ section. Plan C, therefore, is looking like an extra week in Quito while I go to the organized Spanish-speaking school a block away from the hostal, while Joy goes to more salsa-dancing lessons (don’t worry, she’s already dragged me to one of those), or to more classes at Crossfit Quito, which is a great gym run by David, a really great guy. 

In another quick side-note, this one hopefully more interesting than smog, on the first day we went to Crossfit Quito Joy was our sole communicator with David, all in Spanish, including interpreting for me when I had something to say more complex than, “where is the bathroom?” or “can I have another beer?” On our second day at Crossfit Quito, David walked over to me right before the starting gun sounded for Joy’s workout (I’m still on shoulder surgery injured reserve), and said to me, in perfectly enunciated English, “The altitude’s going to destroy her.” Dirty bugger. Sometimes I feel as if I’m the only person around who can’t speak both Spanish and English. And though I know that I won’t learn the complete language on this trip, and that this adventure is about much more than me learning how to verify with meseros that they are bringing me a 20oz bottle of beer and not one of those wimpy American 12oz bottles, I really would like to learn some while I’m here, and we think that another week of brain-crushing, fire-hose training will be beneficial to my four-month learning curve. Besides, maybe I’ll learn to understand Joy a little better when she’s signing me up for more salsa lessons!