El Centro

Hello everyone! Many apologies for not posting for a little while, I have been consumed in getting my censo and what a terrible process it was. First of all, "el censo" in English means "the census" and it is an identification card that every international student and tourist staying more than 90 days in the country must get within 30 days of arriving in the country, or it is very difficult to leave (I strongly considered not even going to get it...haha just kidding!!). So anyway, the government of Ecuador requires this ID card to keep track of how many people and exactly who is in the country, plus it is a good thing to have in case of an emergency and it keeps me from having to carry around my passport (or a copy of it) when I am out and about. So on Monday morning at 9am, Sandy and I walked towards the census office because the car is having some issues (we couldn't go over the weekend because the office was closed). But before we could go, we had to take care of a few things that were requited in order to get the censo: we had to make a 10 dollar deposit at the Banco International, make copies of all my papers and of my passport and buy a manilla envelope in which to put all of my papers (they were very picky about the size and color of the folder). Then we arrived at the office and as soon as we arrived there was a line out the door. We got a number and waited waited waited waited waited and when it was our turn, we were told that even though someone who worked at the office told us to wait in line number 4, we were in the wrong line, so we had to jump into another and wait wait wait wait wait wait WAIT. Finally someone attended to us, and after scribbling down a couple things on a piece of paper said that he was going to keep my passport and all of my papers and I had to return the next day to finally get my censo. And by this time it was 3pm and I had missed all of my classes for the day. So the next day Sandy and I walked yet again to the censo office, got a couple passport size photos taken and then waited yet again in 500 lines until finally we were seen by the man who was actually going to make and print my ID card. But as soon as we stepped into his office he said that he had to go on his lunch break and would return in an hour...so Sandy and I, frustrated as you can imagine, mosied on over to the nearest convenience store and bought a giant beer to share. After an hour of chatting we returned to the censo office and there the man was, waiting for us to be seen (the jerk). We were probably in his office speaking with him, signing papers and mamo-dolling to speed up the process for about an hour and finally, the censo was printed!!!! AAAAAAAAnd it was 2pm, meaning that I had missed my classes for this stupid censo for the second day in a row. But not to worry, Sandy to the rescue!! She wrote a note to every single one of my professors (one of which she knows personally) and I have been excused from each class I missed. I will say one thing about the system of government here though...DISORGANIZED!!!! I have never waited in so many lines before in my entire life, and I have never been directed in the wrong direction by people who supposedly "know what they are talking about"  so many times in my life either. You think going to the DMV is terrible, psshhh come to Ecuador. But everything is taken care of now, and I was able to spend a lot of time with Sandy who was more than helpful with everything I had to do.

  Now let me back track a bit and tell you all about my weekend! I decided to stay in Quito last weekend so that I could spend time with my host family, investigate more the nightlife and relax a little bit after an awesome weekend in Otavalo. So I went out with my friends Thursday, Friday and Saturday night to a couple of really cool bars and nightclubs..I drank a couple of beers, was taught (but did not retain) how to dance salsa and met a lot of nice people. What I like the most about bars and nightclubs here is that very few people are out to find someone to take home or with whom to have a one-night-stand like in the US; the majority of the people who go out are looking for a good time and only care about spending time with their friends. So we had an awesome few nights just drinking a bit and experiencing the culture. On Saturday, I went to a place in Quito, the title of this post, called El Centro. El Centro means "the center" and it is an area of Quito which is literally in the center of the city and has everything you can imagine, from restaurants to bars to malls to little shops and more! But the best part of el centro is that it is packed full of history and old historic sites and monuments. As I was feeling a little sluggish that day, Tyler (my friend from NC State) and I left around 3pm from our houses, so we did not have much time to explore...but what we did explore truly was awesome, as you will see from the pictures below. Since Tyler and I are both disorganized college students who fly by the seat of our pants, we had no map and no plan as to what we were going to do once in el centro. But we took a trolley bus to el centro and as soon as we arrive we see a huge tower with stairs spiraling up it and of course, we decide to climb up and see what there was to see. From the top of the tower, we had a gorgeous view of the city and the mountains surrounding it, but the largest most prominent thing we saw was a giant church, which later we found out was the Basilica, that very much resembled Notre Dame in Paris. So we decided to walk over and check it out. As soon as we were standing in front of this massive church, I felt like a tiny ant; the Basilica was a gothic style church from I believe the 1700s that truly was a site to be beheld. We walked up to the entrance of the church and realized that there was a mass being held (on a Saturday?!) but a tour guide approached us and said for 2 dollars we could climb all the way to the top of the church! So we paid the fee and and started our climb to the top...sooo many stairs! But we finally reached (what I thought at the time was the top) when we realized that after climbing up more "stairs," which were more ladders to me because of how steep they were, we would reach the actual top top. Well as most of you know, I am absolutely terrified of heights and outright refused to climb any stairs that were that steep and not to mention quite unsafe with only a railing to hold on to and nothing to catch you if you fell except for the ground below. But after a 10 minute carpe diem speech from Tyler, I decided "screw it I am in Ecuador" and began the terrifying climb to the very top of the church. And honestly I am so glad that I chose to set my fears aside because as you will see from the pictures the view was breathtaking. I was still shaking and very uneasy once at the top, but it was totally worth it.
   Once we left the Basilica we walked a couple miles probably around el centro looking for a restaurant where we could grab dinner and a nice, cold and much needed beer. We ended up eating at a place called Cafeto where I had a delicous pasta with chicken and herbs, and Tyler had a ham and cheese sandwich (what an American haha). We topped it off with a delightful hot chocolate, paid our bill and called the cab to take us home. Because we started the day off pretty late, we didn't get to see half of what is actually in el centro; there are monuments, museums, even more churches and other cool cafes and restaurants. I plan on going again sometime soon to get the full experience...we just have to get there a bit earlier next time :) Below, as usual, you will find some pictures from this weekend. Enjoy!
  

This is the the tower on top of which we climbed when we first arrived in el centro, and where we caught our first glimpse of the Basilica. On top of the tower we found a dog taking a sun bath. What a life huh?

On the way to the cathedral, we saw a nice park where people were napping, fishing and riding around in paddle boats...remind you of anything Mom and Dad? ;)

This massive structure you see before you is the Basilica...Ecuador's Notre Dame.

The entrance of the Basilica with the two huge clock towers.

A set of stairs we climbed beside the church to get a better view of it from the outside.

One of the towers of the cathedral.

Moi!

A long and terrifying walk to reach one of the three sets of terrifying "stairs" we had to climb to reach the top.

The view from the top (but not yet the top top).

Yet again, the top with the clouds rolling down the mountains.

View of the city with all the colorful stacked-on-top-of-each-other buildings. Welcome to Quito :)

And finally the top top...

Me holding on for dear life at the top top...glad you can't see my legs shaking!

Our walk to the restaurant on the tiny and very hilly streets of el centro.

And finally, the restaurant.

  So I leave you with a bit of good news...Adrien's parents have been planning a trip to the Galapagos for about a year now and will be flying into the Quito airport on the evening of the 11th of February. They will be spending the whole day on the 12th with me as their tour guide in Quito and will depart for their trip to the islands the morning of the 13th. I look forward to showing them around, taking them to the Quito artisan market as well as to a local restaurant en La Ronda to eat Ecuadorian food. Unfortunately Adrien will not be able to join his parents in February, but he just surprised me today with the news that he bought his plane ticket this afternoon to come visit me for 2 whole weeks after my exams in May!!!! I am so excited to be able to share this experience with him and show him where I have been spending my time this semester. And anyone else who would like to join you are more than welcome, come on down, there's room for everyone haha! I hope this news from Ecuador finds everybody well and thank you for all of your emails and skype chats. I miss you all very much and will be writing very soon about my trip this coming weekend to Mindo!

Love, Powers