Fried Cheese vs. Colors and Cathedrals

Fried chicken trucks outside the house in Medellín 

...never sold chicken and never moved...

I've left Colombia. Not with regret, but more missing pieces. We spent about four days in Medellín. We certainly ventured out around the city, took the metro to the park and overlooked the city, as well as a few other parks plus the neighborhood we were in and one section of downtown, where we ate like 'vegetarian savages' if that's possible. Which it totally isn't. Medellín has a good feel to it. People are friendly, it's easy to get around, and there's what I would consider an abundance of fried cheese. Though we were initially planning to work our way down, likely through Bogota and Cali our change of plans left us having to rush out. So I write this from our plane to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. If it's anything like the pictures we should be in luck. It looks smaller than Medellín with the buildings and homes decked out in vibrant colors nestled in a gorgeous valley surrounded by the greenest mountains. So far the landscape here is just unreal. Unbelievably lush. 

We may only be here a night before we go onto Lima, due to a seemingly intangible bus schedule, but hopefully we get at least a few days in. We have until Thursday to get to Lima. We're planning to take a bus from Quito to Lima. Partially because the price for a flight doubled when we went out for lunch, but also because we really want to SEE the country side, particularly where we won't get to spend a lot of time in it. We're really excited about having a home to stay at in Cuzco with a kitchen we can use. Our host speaks English, Spanish, and French so it may be helpful to have her only speak to us in Spanish for the first few weeks.  I hope she can teach me some awesome Peruvian dishes. Peruvian wine is supposed to be fantastic, but Amanda can't drink during her yoga training so it might just be me drinking with our host's cat.

Amanda's friend, Emma, was our host in Medellín and I didn't really get a chance to know her until today, our last day. That said she is really fantastic. She's applying to Oxford for her masters in some kind of refugee studies. She told us a wealth of information about the crime in Colombia and the displaced people she's worked with as a result. It was so interesting to learn about and I'm sad that I was unaware of her wealth of knowledge and that I didn't pick her brain earlier in the week. As her, Amanda and I sat around the table, Amanda brought up how great she thought it was that we were all going back to school. I think sometimes living abroad or traveling, people get the impression that we're running away from something or immature or just these lost girls. In actuality, I think doing what we do allows us to find ourselves much more than those who chose to stay in the same place. There's a quote in my journal from Thailand that says something along the lines of  "travel not only stirs the blood, but it (synonym for nourishes) the spirit." My point is we are not lost, nor are we running. We're onto something much bigger...and you should be jealous. 

UPDATE: 

Daylight in Quito unveiled a gorgeous colorful city. The bus to Lima is full until Tuesday and we can't buy our ticket for that until Monday, so we need to be first in line Monday morning. Our hostel has an amazing view. We came into this last night and woke up to this. 

One strange thing is the abundance of American music. Example A: the hostel is currently playing "Hit the Road Jack" and our driver played "Eye of the Tiger" on our way to the bus station. Another strange thing is they use American dollars. Only. So everyone whose stayed in hostels knows you always run into some characters. We were under the impression we were staying in the girls room since when we arrived it was only girls. At 3:15am a figure nearly breaks down the door and tries to crawl into the bed above me, falls to the floor, gets up, strips at which point I realize it's not some drunken girl, but a drunken man. He gets into bed, rustles around, then gets out again, nearly falling to the floor, goes to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, his friend comes in and wakes him up for the key, which he then struggles with until he wakes every one in the room. A few minutes later we hear the ever steady flow of vomit coming from someone in the bathroom which is right next door. Needless to say, the man is still asleep in the top bunk of our room. 

After realizing we couldn't get our bus tickets until Monday, we took it upon ourselves to explore the old town of Quito. We started with a walk to the market our taxi driver had suggested. I love markets. I think one of my favorite things is being surrounded by the food and the process of eating and selling and buying food in unfamiliar places.  There was fruit and vegetables in the front, meat and beans in the back, flowers on huge side, and a million stands lining the bottom floor of Ecuadorian grandmas making full meals for less than $2. We ended up with a full plate of rice with peas, carrots and chorizo mixed in, topped with a fried egg and a delicious fruit juice on the side. $1 each. It reminded me of the markets I'd sometimes go to in Thailand, but less sweaty. When we left we bought some fruit for the afternoon stroll. We walked to a massive cathedral and sat in the grass in the front park for awhile before going in and climbing a thousand stairs to the top of one of the towers. We're at about 10,000 feet and the air up here is amazingly fresh and the views were amazing, but stairs are everywhere and they are not our friend.  I love how green it is here and everyone just seems so sincere. AND they speak a lot slower which is helpful to both Amanda and I. I'm glad we are getting to spend some time here cause I think skipping over it, would have been a mistake. However, we better catch that bus to Lima otherwise we're going to be in a bit of trouble.