Quito: a return to civilization
Five ways in which Quito is not Cartagena:
1. I´m not sweating! On the Colombian coast, I was taking two to three cold showers a day, no joke. Here, the weather seems just about perfect - nice and warm during the day, but with a breeze, and cold enough at night that standing around a fire on the rooftop terrace of our hostel sounds just about perfect.
2. It´s not flat! In fact, it´s quite high up. 2850 meters, which according to my sketchy mental math is about 9000 feet. In any case, it´s high enough that I´m feeling a little off today. I´ve been queasy and lightheaded, and no matter how much water I drink my mouth is still so dry. These are classic symptoms of altitude sickness, which unfortunately I seem to be overly sensitive to. Will says that´s because I don´t eat red meat - something about iron? And hemoglobins? Which brings me to number 3...
3. Will´s here! He flew in from North Carolina last night...I won´t complain about the many hours I spent waiting in the airport for his delayed flight, after having already spent the entire day flying myself. But it´s wonderful that he is here, and we´ve (finally) started planning what we´re going to do for the next month.
4. No machine guns! Nope, Ecuadorian police have decided to forego the automated weapon route and carry...swords. My mission for tomorrow is to stealthily take pictures.
5. Traffic rules! They have crosswalks! With lights that tell you when to walk! And people use them! I spent an hour in taxis last night and only had one near-death experience!
1. I´m not sweating! On the Colombian coast, I was taking two to three cold showers a day, no joke. Here, the weather seems just about perfect - nice and warm during the day, but with a breeze, and cold enough at night that standing around a fire on the rooftop terrace of our hostel sounds just about perfect.
2. It´s not flat! In fact, it´s quite high up. 2850 meters, which according to my sketchy mental math is about 9000 feet. In any case, it´s high enough that I´m feeling a little off today. I´ve been queasy and lightheaded, and no matter how much water I drink my mouth is still so dry. These are classic symptoms of altitude sickness, which unfortunately I seem to be overly sensitive to. Will says that´s because I don´t eat red meat - something about iron? And hemoglobins? Which brings me to number 3...
3. Will´s here! He flew in from North Carolina last night...I won´t complain about the many hours I spent waiting in the airport for his delayed flight, after having already spent the entire day flying myself. But it´s wonderful that he is here, and we´ve (finally) started planning what we´re going to do for the next month.
4. No machine guns! Nope, Ecuadorian police have decided to forego the automated weapon route and carry...swords. My mission for tomorrow is to stealthily take pictures.
5. Traffic rules! They have crosswalks! With lights that tell you when to walk! And people use them! I spent an hour in taxis last night and only had one near-death experience!
posted by Will and Katy @ 3:42 PM
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