Bastille Day in Quito

The silver lining to not sleeping the night before you fly to Quito is that afterward you don't really remember flying to Quito. I only just got in about two hours ago, enough time to clear customs, find my hotel, and wander the streets looking for dinner. No taco stands here, of course, but I did come across a promising Mongolian barbeque, which seems out of place in the Andes--and a hamburger joint called "The G Spot," which would seem out of place just about anywhere.

Bypassing them both, I've settled down at a cafe, Papaya.net, that serves avocado sandwiches with a side of high speed Internet. Which reminds me: a few years ago, Ecuador gave up its own currency and decided to use American dollars. Yet prices aren't exactly structured how you would expect them to be back home. For instance, most items at U.S. restaurants cost, say, $2.99 or $3.50, or maybe $5.97 if a proprietor is feeling very creative. But at this Internet Cafe a bagel with salmon costs $3.28, Mexican bread $2.42, potatoes with mushrooms $3.07, a green empanada $1.64--and so on. The penny must get a lot more use here. (I've also seen a lot of Sacajawea--whose dollar I had previously come across only at the post office.)

I'm staying at La Casa Sol. My taxi driver warned me that it was "simple" and but reassured me that it was also "comfortable." Both appraisals are fairly accurate, the former perhaps more so. Most of the walls are painted a festive Ukrainian orange. Up front there's a TV lounge where no one is watching TV. As for my room, it's... cozy. Maybe five paces by four and a half, with a window. The bed is about knee-height, which I guess is great if you roll off the bed a lot. I'll report back on the water pressure.

Up ahead: a quiet Sunday working on a much procrastinated paper for a course on the 2004 presidential election, mixed with a little bit of sightseeing and shopping for alpacas. Tomorrow night, I'll have dinner with Orazio and Eli, who run the organization I'm consulting for here, Grupo Faro.