The First Big Weekend - Sunday

I first woke up at 3.30am, not good... I managed to get a bit more sleep but eventually gave up and got up at 6.30. No need for the alarm then. I sat and read until it was 8, when breakfast would be served. The only option was actually all vegetarian and I had a fruit juice made from kinds of tangerines and something I hadn't seen before. It was very good, whatever it was!
I went out to walk into the centre. The weather was good, quite sunny and already fairly warm (at 9.00). I walked down a main street which went through a park on the way to the centre. The streets were not too bad, some rubbish and unrestored roads and buildings but there were some nicer ones to see, too. In the park I found a market which was mostly traditional style clothes and jewellery. I had a look to see if I could find a shirt like I planned to get. I saw a blue one which was quite nice. The woman said it was $14 but I managed to get it down to $11.50, which was decent. That was the first thing ticked off the list.

The park (La Alameda) was nice, big and some people around. I was already experiencing problems with the altitude. I walked slowly but I still felt like I had little energy as there was not enough oxygen going into my blood. When I had to walk uphill, which happens a lot in Quito, I felt short of breath and light-headed. The altitude is around 2500m, which is was more than I had had to deal with before. It didn't help that I'd spent the last 6 years living about 2m above sea level in Porto!
I reached the centre and it was already busy. There are lots of people around and you can see who are the poorest, mostly the ones who are indigenous and dress traditionally. They sell cigarettes and other bit and pieces. As the centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are lots of nice buildings to see but a lot of uphill walking. I'd bought a bottle of water at the hostel as the man said is wasn't recommended to drink tap water. I later realised I hadn't drunk enough as I had a bit of a headache, too. In the main square, the Plaza de la Independencia, it was interesting to see the local people. They mainly sit around, as I did for a while, and I saw lots of young children who shined shoes. Some were as young as about 5 and it was sad to see but at least they do make a bit of honest money.
I had a coffee and a cheese toastie in a café and watched the people go by outside and walked around a little more. I didn't want to listen to music or read because I wanted to feel a part of the life here.

I managed to find a ferreteria (hardware store) which sold plug adaptors. I asked how much it was - $2.50. I said I only have a 50, is that o.k? No, said the woman, 50 cents? I told her I meant $50 and asked because of the change needed. She checked my note very carefully and accepted it. She also warned me to keep my bag on my front as assaults can happen here. I thanked her but kept it on my back but was always wary of it and I didn't get any trouble at all. No-one even looked suspicious but there are certain areas which are more dangerous, although I didn't go to them.
I was thinking of maybe going back to the hostel to rest and then go out again later but I came across another park with people in boats going round. I took off my socks and trainers and sat watching them have fun.

After a while I went back to the first park and looked around it some more. There were some nice sculptures and a funny act of some men doing a long taxi sketch, which the people enjoyed. I went to walk back and it started raining so that was quite good timing. It wasn't very heavy and I got back about 3.00.

I tested my adaptor with my phone charger in case it blew up but it looked fine so I used it with my notebook computer and uploaded my photos and video.
I took it easy for a while as I was feeling low on energy but I couldn't sleep. At 6, I went out to the area near the hostel, had a cappuccino then went to find a restaurant. Not many were open and I couldn't find the Mongolian one I'd seen last night but found an Ecuadorian one that even did veggie food. It was actually excellent, too. Nice and spicy and with good flavours. I'll have to go there again when I come into Quito for weekends. After that it was around 8pm and I walked around a little then came back. After a pleasant day with no problems, on the street of the hostel, a dog started barking at me and even though it wagged its tail, was quite aggressive. It even tried to bite my foot and it was hard to make it go away. I didn't get attacked but it felt like I was going to, right at the end of my otherwise good day. My heart was still beating fast when I got into the hostel.
But, I escaped being savaged and could just relax for the rest of the evening, ready to get up early and start the real adventure.

The First Big Weekend - Saturday

After staying overnight in Madrid, I had no problems with getting on my first flight outside Europe, re: papers needed. I'd booked my seat and went to find it. My fellow passenger was already on and she didn't look Ecuadorian or Spanish. Stéphanie was in fact Swiss and was going to study Spanish in Quito for 2 months and then travel around South America. We got on well and spent the 11 hours (2 fewer than I thought it was!) chatting and playing cards. It was a lot better than I expected and we both felt it wasn't at all bad to be stuck on a plane for so long. We landed a bit late and had to go through the queue of foreigners which took a while. But again,we both had no problems and found our bags. Then we went our separate ways as we were both being picked up by people. We arranged to meet up when I go back to Quito some time, though.
Patricio picked me up and drove me to the hostel. I got an idea that Quito was actually pretty big. It's 35km long and 3km wide, situated between the mountains of the Andes. He was nice and I had no problem at all with speaking Spanish with him. Ecuadorians speak it very clearly so I could see straight away that the language was not going to be a problem.
I wasn't getting any network for my phone though and this was a problem. My mum and R wanted me to send them a message to say I'd arrived safely but I couldn't. Patricio let me send my mum a message but it would have been midnight in England when she received it. The hostel had internet access for free so I emailed R the same news. The time here was only 6pm but I was feeling tired now.

 (Hostel Otavalo Huasi, Calle Wilson)
I had eaten well on the plane and didn't feel I needed to eat dinner but I had time to kill so went for a look around the nearby streets which were quite lively. Lots of bars and restaurants and loads of people around. I didn't know if it was safe here so I only took a few dollars with me and had a look around, making sure I remembered where I was going. It was dark and quite cold. I had my jacket on but I thought it would be good to buy a shirt. Apart from t-shirts, I only had a fleece top otherwise but didn't want to wear that all the time. I decided to try to find an Ecuadorian one that didn't look too traditional.
I also needed to buy a plug adaptor as my European ones didn't fit here so put that on my list of things to buy tomorrow.
I walked around for less than an hour and went back to the hostel. The guy working there was friendly and we chatted about the city a bit. Again, no problems with understanding. Not bad for not speaking Spanish for 9 years.
I didn't want to go to bed too early as I needed to adjust my body clock so tried to read in the room. It was difficult, though and I only managed to stay up till half past nine. Breakfast was at 8 so I set my alarm.

Three days to go

It seems strange that even though I'm flying to Madrid on Friday and then to Quito on Saturday, I haven't been thinking about it very much yet! Obviously, I'm ready for it and looking forward to it but because of all the other things that I've had to do, I don't feel that my mind is free enough to think about my first trip outside Europe.
I'm currently with my family in England and so I want to make sure I spend time with everyone when I can but my removals arrived today so I've had to sort that out and arrange the storage payments, etc. I've also been thinking about making contacts with people in Wolverhampton for when I return here in April and getting started on my projects. I spoke to a couple of shop-owners yesterday and both were positive about what I would like to do (see Our Own Future).
It actually feels a bit weird to know I'll be in Ecuador this Saturday but I've still got to think about flying from Liverpool and getting that bit out of the way!
I'm not looking forward to the 13 hour flight the next day...

Two weeks left

It's now 2 weeks before I go to Ecuador and 1 week before I leave Porto. It's been quite a hectic summer, geting my things ready. I got all my vaccinations a while back, totalling 7. I got some money off a big rucksack because one strap was a bit damaged but it won't be a problem; it's just good to get €16 off! Other than that, I've needed to buy rubber boots, gardening gloves and just decide what I'm going to take. It doesn't get neither really hot nor cold there, the temperature is quite constant, around 20-25ºC. I should be there in the dry season but it will still rain, just not as much as from January.
I'm really looking forward to getting into the projects. There are going to be hundreds of species of animals and plants that I haven't seen before and lots of things that I want to do, like building from natural materials and working in the organic garden.
Over the last few weeks, apart from getting my removals sorted out (they went on the 11th) and getting storage in the UK, I took on a challenge to write a novel in a month. It was very interesting.I started with no idea of what the story would be about but I stuck with it and finished in 27 days (65,500 words!). I finished that yesterday and need to finish checking it before I publish it on Amazon as an ebook. It is called 'In A Small Northern Town' and will have the synopsis on the book page.
I am already working on my plans for after India, too. In the light of the recent UK riots, my Our Own Future projects seems even more relevant and I have a good feeling that it's going to work. To earn money, I plan to use one of my ideas on there which is teaching in the community. Hopefully after being in Ecuador, I can teach about permaculture and also Spanish, in community centres but I'll wait till December to start sorting that out.