You’re just a doorman, doorman!

Friday in Translation we talked a little about translation tools so I wowed everyone with my prior knowledge! Ok not exactly but it was the most I’ve talked in that class in a while. After class I went to lunch with Emily, Lauren and Daniel. We went to some place in Cumbaya that had a fixed menu, and it was really tasty. We got a potato based soup, something like beef tips, rice, papaya juice and my favorite, strawberries with whipped cream. Guadalupe doesn’t usually have strawberries in the house so that was a treat. Since Daniel was there we all spoke Spanish which was good but I had to leave early for Tango club!

Keunae came up for tango club too, since she doesn’t have class Fridays, and we were some of the first people there. Once most of the people showed up we got a little demo from the instructors and that got me pumped. I was super excited to learn this and dance with Zach! We split up into two circles of partners since there were so many of us but people still kept running into each other. We also switched partners often like swing lessons, which was nice since that way we learn to dance with anyone, not just our usual partner. Though I doubt I’ll really be dancing tango with anyone besides Zach outside of class.

We learned the basic step and a couple different moves but we didn’t get too far since the vast majority of us were beginners. I had one partner who was obnoxious, he kept making it seem like I was the one who was messing up when he wasn’t leading very well! I’m sure it was partially my fault but don’t blame it all on me dude. Other than that guy everyone was pretty good. Mary’s brother Fernando was in the class too but I didn’t get to dance with him. There was also a girl from my modern dance class there so we said hi and chatted a little. 

After class I went home so I could get in a nap before dinner. I worked on some homework then got ready to go out. I called a cab for Danielle, Keunae and me since everyone else was going separately. We took the cab to the plaza foch and we met up with the Lumbisi gang including: Chris, Emily, Kevin, Zack, two girls who’s names I’ve forgotten and Daniel. We intended to go to this bar called Blues which is supposed to be really cool. We assumed it was close to the plaza but it ended up being a 5 min cab ride away. We took cabs but our driver didn’t know where he was going so it took a while. The first taxi people made it there quick and went in right away since there was a free bar till 10:30 and it was already close to 10.

When we got there the doormen wouldn’t let Daniel in because he wasn’t dressed nice enough. It didn’t matter how we Americans were dressed but since he is Colombian he had to be dressed nicer. It was ridiculously stupid. He had on a polo and a nice sweatshirt- the exact same thing at one of the bouncers. Ugh. We even tried to have him and Kevin change shirts since Kevin was wearing a button down but one guy had to run it by the boss who eventually said that for him to get in we’d have to buy an entire bottle of liquor plus their cover. There was no way that was happening so we left. I really just wanted to yell at the doorman, “you’re just a doorman! DOORman!”

So we ended up back at the plaza foch- well most of us anyway, Emily T, Alex, Grant, Kevin and Betty stayed at Blues since they were already there. Lauren and Danielle came with us. So we went to this place called Lunera or something like that. It was this little bar with loud music. It was fun. Chris, Emily and Lauren left pretty fast but we stayed a while. I danced with two not-nearly-as-creepy-as-those-Lumbisi-guys guys. We danced salsa and neither of them stared at me or called me ‘reina’ so it was infinitely better than the Lumbisi dance. The one guy didn’t even say anything to me. I was totes fine with that. Then we danced some more to some techno-y music and some American music then by the end of the night it was back to salsa.

Keunae, Danielle and I shared a cab back to Cumbaya but the driver was pretty annoyed with us because we were pretty annoying so I gave him a tip- which you usually don’t do here.

Saturday I woke up late. Well 11:20 am, but for Guadalupe that was late. I came down for breakfast and by then it was around noon. Since I didn’t have anything planned with the group that day, Guadalupe wanted to take me out and show me around. So we, Guadalupe, Pato and I, went into Quito to go to the TeleferiQo which is like a gondola ride up a mountain. Pato drove so I made sure to wear my seatbelt and we first made a stop at el Arbolito to get some sandwiches. Pato just ordered three different kinds, all sliced in half, so we could share. We also got drinks and some chifle- banana chips.

Then we went up to the parking lot, parked and on our way up to the ticket office we saw Zack and the two Lumbisi girls. Apparently they were waiting for Margoth for hours. I felt bad for them but Guadalupe and Pato didn’t stop so I couldn’t really talk with them. At the ticket office you had to show ID to get Ecuadorian price but my censo card worked fine so I didn’t have to pay the foreigner price! So we got in line and waited for the car to take us up the mountain. We only had to wait for one to go by before we could get on, probably because it was pretty late.

It was a slow ride up but it was pretty cool. You could see Quito spread out beneath you. I recognized the panecillo and the Basilica but everything else was just buildings. Once we made it up to the top there really wasn’t much to do. We took a really short hike/walk up the mountain and I took some pictures. It was already starting to get cloudy at this point so I wanted to get all I could.

Then we went down to the little church on the mountain. Guadalupe went in a prayed for a bit and then we found a bench to eat our sandwiches. I wasn’t sure what I ate but I know there was cheese and some kind of flavored mayo on it. It was all we had for lunch so I just ate it. It wasn’t that bad though so I didn’t have to struggle to eat. Once we finished eating the clouds had really rolled in and it was starting to drizzle. So we got in line to go back down and that was longer than the line to go up.

In line they were playing the original Karate Kid and Pato told us about this movie he saw about some 9/11 conspiracy theory. On the way down we were in the gondola with two women, one Ecuadorian and a Mexican, and the ladies discussed telenovelas. Afterwords we went to some mall to get coffee and cake.

So then we went to Lauren’s house to pick her up because she and Pato were going out and drove back home to drop Guadalupe off. Lauren and I talked a little but not much. Once we got home they left pretty quick and I had nothing to do.

Also that night, apparently, a bunch of people were going out to Uncle Ho’s for dinner then going out later. I didn’t hear about it until Danielle texted me asking if I was invited. Apparently she ran into Keunae who asked her about it. Later Betty texted me when they were at the bus stop about to leave. I said I might come out later but I didn’t.

I was watching an episode of Dexter when I got Betty’s text and asked Danielle if she wanted to go out or not. We had gone out the night before so I could’ve gone either way. Eventually we decided not to go out so she came over to watch a movie. Guadalupe was excited to hear I had a friend coming over. Earlier in the day she decided that we were going to Baños next weekend and that I could invite ‘Daniela.’ She tried to get Pato to come and bring Lauren too but he didn't want to go. So when Danielle came over Guadalupe told her she had to get up at 5 AM Saturday, even though Danielle had no idea what she was talking about.

Before Danielle got to the house Guadalupe made popcorn, on the stove just in a pan. It was crazy. It over flowed at one point, haha. She also had me put jam on some saltine crackers for movie snacks too. We all talked for a while and munched on our snacks and I almost repeated the choking scene from Argentina. Some popcorn went down the wrong pipe and while I was coughing Guadalupe told me to put my arm up! I had such a flashback.

Then Danielle and I went up to pick a movie. I swear there are 5,000 movies in our house. I guess that’s what happens when movies are only $2. It took forever just look at all of movies in the bookcase. There is a giant box filled with them in the hall too. Finally we settled on Lost in Translation and decided that from now on we can only watch movies with Bill Murray in them. After the movie Guadalupe drove Danielle home and when we came back I finished season 4 of Dexter and then went to bed.