Reporting from Quito

A little change of scenery, just to liven things up. Here's what's happening in the capitol.
**Warning: The reports below are not necessarily relevant or sensible.

1. It is cold and rainy, and, thoughtless guayaca that I am, I wore flip flops and jeans. This made for a soggy afternoon and evening out on the town.

2. If you give a street child a piece of chocolate, all his friends will want one, too. This is the grown-up version of "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie," reminding us that there are always repercussions to our actions. And they aren't always pretty, even if there is chocolate involved. As one of my companions observed, one of the worst things is a child who's been completely hardened.

3. Cab drivers may or may not accept a song played on the harmonica as payment in lieu of cash money, and it never hurts to ask. (We didn't, but should any of you be inclined to try this, please share the results of your endeavor.)

4. In Ecuador, "vegetarian food" is more or less synonymous with "health food." Which in turn may or may not be synonymous with "yummy food." It's luck of the draw, and today we drew the short straw. What's worse than mystery meat? Answer: Fake mystery meat.

5. Giant mugs of steaming hot chocolate more than make up for yucky vegetarian almuerzo and icky weather.

6. So does being with people you love and care about.

7. So does coming back to the hostel to lay in bed and watch a movie about nuns who teach inner city kids how to sing gospel songs.

Oh, Happy Day!

...Oh, cozy bed.