For Every Up There is a Down!

Where to start? Hmmmm, so after I signed off last night I went around the corner for some grub and hey...why not enjoy a local favorite - a nice cold Pilsener!? I was alone and apparently this isn´t the best neighborhood, so I came right home and watched The Simpsons and the US VP debate (in spanish) with a guy that works the night shift here. I would tell you his name, but that was just one of MANY things I didn´t catch. He didn´t speak a word of english and went on and on, very passionately, about several subjects, none of which I can recall right now. But I think he´s opposed to the war in Iraq :). Ok...so that was fine. I went to bed early. I figured I´d get up early and have a fun day of exploration, maybe go visit the equator (La Mitad del Mundo or ¨Middle of the World¨)...but let´s just say my body was going to have the last word. I don´t know if it was the food...the water (which I tried not to drink even when brushing my teeth)...or the cervesa (not my fault they only serve Pilsener in 22oz bottles!), but my body ¨threw a fit¨ at about 2:30am. I´ll leave it at that and let you use your imagination. :)

So when I woke up at 7am I was completely exhausted and not feeling so hot. I tried to go to the drug store to FINALLY get some contact solution (I guess everyone here has 20/20 vision or walks around blind, because NO ONE sells stuff for contacts!) and could hardly walk I was so weak. I ended up coming back to the hostel, abandoning my big plans to the middle of the world, and sleeping until noon. I finally felt alive again after a shower, mind you the store I went to earlier was still closed, so I was again washing my entire body and teeth with peppermint soap. wow....

So, I finally got my booty out to a nearby park (I couldn´t be completely lame!) and things turned around from there. While it was really sketchy and I´m pretty sure the dude was trying to steal my camera (just from the way he was staring at it the whole time we talked), he did speak the most understandable spanish I´ve heard in a long time...or maybe he was just speaking really slow. :) But we sat in Parque El Ejido with kids running around playing and talking about Esmeraldes (sp?), where he is from. I made a good exit and then walked in some ass-backward pattern back to the main street in case he was following. I know. I hate to be suspecious, especially if people have good intentions, but I´m not going to take that chance for some random I just met!

So now I´m really hungry! I haven´t eaten a thing since breakfast at 8am (more on this later). So I went to a little cafe that Lonely Planet recommended (thank you again, Aditi por el regalo!) - Kallari. I ordered way too much, but what I could eat was great (the bread melts in your mouth!) and I had a brownie that LP claimed would give you an orgasm...let´s not push it people! But it was good. :) And I made another, much less suspect friend, Frankie, who worked there and is from Tena (where we´ll be visiting soon). He was really nice and we had a good chat...it´s been great practice for my spanish!

So now I´m back at the hostel and waiting for our first group meeting! There are apparently 15 or 16 of us! yikes! And this morning I met some more folks. A couple young couples that seemed very nice. I won´t go too into the group yet - save more material for later (you know I have a hard time thinking of things to say...uh, yea). But so far I´m the only Americana. Lots of Aussies. Ok, well, that´s enough for now. Hope all is well with you all!!