Quito: Short but Sweet!

The rockin' view of Quito from Jaime's house

Even though I just got here, this was already my last day in Quito. Thanks a lot, Superstorm Sandy! The day was a nice mix of doing not much of anything while also still doing things, if that makes sense. It mostly involved lots of walking… and eating yummy street food (today is a holiday, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and everyone was off work and the parks were full of people and tons of food carts)… and drinking coffee… and hanging out in parks… and more walking… and sculpture gardens… and traditional food (ceviche, baby!)… more coffee… and some more walking. We talked and laughed a lot and saw some different parts of Quito with Jaime. It was a very good day.
                            

Yes, in fact that IS a plastic lawn chair rigged up
as a wheelchair

Speaking of Jaime, I reiterate that he must be the best couchsurfing host ever. For those unfamiliar, couchsurfing is a website where lovers of travel and/or cultures other than their own sign up to host others coming to their area. The idea is that it’s reciprocal, although not necessarily directly. So when you’re traveling, you can stay for free with people and then when you’re back home, you open your home to travelers coming to your town. I have done it before and the experiences vary from people who can simply offer you a place to stay but are too busy with work, etc. to spend much time with you, others who are sometimes available but can give you lots of great information and “insider tips” on what to see and do (and what to avoid)… and then there is Jaime.

One of  the many street carts where they prepare ceviche
right before your eyes

Jaime is single and has a non-traditional job where he has a lot of flexibility to take off pretty much whenever he wants or needs to. So when he agrees to host a couchsurfer, he not only agrees to host them but to offer his home and everything in it (I didn’t realize this until after the fact, but he actually gave up his own bed for us and was sleeping on the floor in another room!), his love for and his knowledge about his country as well as his undivided time. The things he did for us and the time he spent with us was beyond generous and actually overwhelming at times. It is these kinds of experiences that always give me pause and make me consider if I would be so generous and giving of my time in the same situation. I go home renewed to make sure I would be.

And the cart where you buy fresh fruit juice out
of huge, homemade buckets full of the stuff

We bid a very fond farewell to Jaime (but he’ll be in the US in November so that made it less of a “thing”) and headed to the airport. But before checking in, we had to go the office to track down my still-missing suitcase. After days of wondering if I would a) get it back before leaving the country today or b) ever get it back, we finally got ahold of someone there this afternoon who assured me they had the bag. However, they had never once made any attempt to contact me to let me know they had it nor to deliver it. Three days in a country without a bag, three days wearing the same clothes (give that one some thought…. reeeally think about all that that implies…. yeah, disgusting, right?), no apology from anyone about it, no phone calls telling me anything about it, their office hours only being 3 hours per day which makes it nearly impossible to call them, no attempts whatsoever to get my bag to me…. oh yes, life is different in South America. So we get to the office to pick it up and, despite the fact that they had told me they would be open, it was dark and empty and locked. We knocked, we rang the bell, we hollered, we pounded. Occasionally we could see someone through the huge glass door peeking around the corner and looking at us and then just disappearing. We knocked and rang some more and eventually someone came and I got my bag. Still no apology, no explanation. Let us say that I will be writing to American Airlines about it but, in the meantime, it was yet another reminder that I am back in South America and that’s just how things go here.

Jaime y Laura chowing down on the fresh and insanely
cheap, not to mention delish, ceviche we had in the park

I’ve long said that for an American to travel in South America you have to first let go of any and ALL expectations of anything working like it does in the US. Forget convenience, forget logic, forget systems. You must eventually stop asking “why” and just roll with the punches and learn to find it all endearing (which I do). It also helps to be extremely laid-back (which I am) and to be very patient and able be amused by rather than annoyed by inefficiency (check and check). At least you know there will never be a dull moment in South America!

Dorky tourists

That being said, no matter how much I love South America and am largely amused by all of its quirks, there are in fact some things that one needs to be wary about. First and foremost is understanding that if you’re a foreigner here, you will get ripped off, period. If a taxi costs a local $1, it will cost you $5. If they buy some food on the street for $0.50, you will be charged $4. Even if you can speak perfect Spanish and sound confident when talking with them. And this is where it’s nice to be with a local as they can tip you off to these things, which helps you avoid some of the traps. When Jaime sent us off on our own last evening he let us know about the very specific amounts that we should not pay more than for taxi rides, etc. It’s nice to be sure of a fair price so you can confidently negotiate and know without a doubt you won’t be ripped off.

The three amigos

We were also advised to always ask the driver before getting in if he has a meter in the cab. Turns out that, otherwise, if you’re a foreigner, they’ll cover it up when you get in and tell you they don’t have one and then just announce some outrageous price when you get to your destination, at which point you’re stuck. One time when Jaime was with Laura and they got in a taxi, Jaime was negotiating the price up front (you always do this if they don’t have a meter so you can agree on a fair price beforehand) and the taxi driver was trying to charge a super jacked-up price because Laura was in the car. Of course Jaime knew what the fare should be and started arguing it with the guy and the driver said in Spanish to Jaime, knowing Laura couldn’t understand, “Come on, you’re just her tour guide. She doesn’t know the difference.”. This kind of stuff happens all over the world to tourists and is simply a reality of traveling, but it sure is nice when you have connections with a local who can give you the heads up and let you know about what fair prices are so you can at least minimize the damage.

Which should make it even more interesting when we get to Peru tomorrow where we have no local connections and no ideas as to where to begin to negotiate prices. As I said, never a dull moment in South America. Here goes….. !