#234. 01/12/04 El Batan, Quito

I'm learning quickly. I think. The school is good: relaxed with one-on-one lessons. They lay on plenty of activities to prevent the gringos from getting bored. Yesterday we had a bit of a go on the ping pong table, but we couldn't play with too much gusto for fear of hitting the ball into the neighbouring Cuban embassy. They were up for the red team. Later we attempted a tournament of "Cuarenta" (40). From what I could judge from the 20 minute introduction in Spanish, it seems to be an Ecuadorian cross between bridge, twentyone and snap. Much fun, and we were allowed drink beer and rum in school. Afterwards we went to a salsa bar and were given impromptu and completely unoffical lessons by my crazy professor.

Today was "La Fiesta de la Dulce". At least I think it was today. My head is still aching from the amount of sugar Ecuadorians put in even the smallest, most innocent coconut ball. Afterwards we went to Quito's National History Museum to see a gargantuan range of slimey things, crawley things and furry things. The hilarity of the Engrish descriptions kept us from enjoying the full spectrum of millipedes, put the 10m long skeleton of a "snuke" made up for it.