mycofarm: quito landia

We are in Quito. Our flight was Portland-L.A.-Panama City-Quito. We got accosted in the PDX airport by a high-maintenance lady. ¨I´m going to have to have you buy a return ticket,¨ she told us, frowning in disaproval. We told her we would deal with it in L.A. Outside of PDX, no one seems to care whether we have a return ticket or not. We flew out of L.A. at 2am. This was for fun, not because the ticket was cheap (not). We ate a lot of candy in L.A. and it was good. Sweedish fish and gummy cola. Yum, yum, yum.

Then we tried to sleep in a small tuna fish can sized space. At least, I slept in my best curled up fetus impersonation, while Corey kind of grumbled and drank whiskey and watched the classic in-flight film ¨College Road Trip.¨

But then we arrived in Quito and it was all good! Brian´s beautiful bald head and Jess were waiting to meet us. They took us to their lovely little house in Guapulo, a suburban neighborhood on the edge of Quito. Guapulo is apparently the Hawthorne equivalent in Quito, lots of bohemians and hippies and young folks and the like. Apparently these Reedies are staying in a orange hostel nearby... damn Reedies, it really is true, you can´t get away from them. Brian and Jess rent the bottom floor of a house with their two roommates and entertain frequent visits from Bingo, the pet dog of the family living upstairs. Their house has an absolutely amazing view of the surrounding mountains and the gorge. Corey watched the sun rise this morning through the bathroom window while listening to the roosters.

Sorry, I can´t figure out how to put these photos in order and I can´t be bothered to fuss with it.
Then today we walked to the Santa Clara market for groceries only to find that it was closed, since all the market sellers have gone on strike for reasons unclear to me. We bought yummy stuff from vendors nearby: some corn I am really excited about eating for dinner, some cacao chocolate cookie thing I am excited about eating as soon as I finish this blog post. I am basically really excited about eating everything and anything in Quito, period. We had a really good lunch yesterday with Brian and Jess in the Mariscal, which is the touristy gringo neighborhood. We ate some fried snapper which Corey professed as one of the best fish he´d ever eaten. I had some ceviche which I put too much aji into. Live and learn (and eat, preferably without burning one´s tongue out of one´s skull). For dinner Jess cooked this amazing beet thing with quinoa, and for breakfast Corey made some potatoes and eggs, and we ate the rest of the qunioa with oatmeal. I´m surprised quinoa hasn´t caught on more with the yuppie crowd in P-land, maybe it has and I´m just unware. We had lunch in a park with all the various goodies we acquired from our meandering: sandwiches with tomato and avocado and onion, really good nuts, and some squishy orange fruit whose name I can´t remember despite asking Jess four times. Four organic avocados for a dollar is a pretty good deal. I can kind of understand Brian and Jess´s reluctance to return to the Estados Unidos, what with the amazing view from their $180 a month house and good cheap food.