Peruvian Adventure

we arrived today in the city of baños. i spent all of yesterday sleeping and watching subtitled american movies in our room. i haven´t been feeling all that great, but think i´m beginning to recover. i did, however, watch win a date with tad hamilton, die hard, mean machine, and object of my affection, which were all good! cass did a great job of taking care of me, bringing me treats and checking on my progress. we left early this morning, thinking we would catch a bus to baños. turns out, there are no buses. we had a choice between a six dollar ride in a pickup truck with a tarped canopy over the back, or a twenty dollar cab ride. we opted for the cab because sometimes adventure just isn´t appealing. i was holed up in the corner, clutching my manta (blanket) as we drove through bright green fields and adobe homes with worn down corners pasted with advertisements blue from age. as we drove along, the mountains begin to rise up, and the colors became richer and more tropical. our driver honked and waved to many friends as we drove along, and we picked up a little boy, who sat on the console between the driver and a young ecuadorian guy who was also riding with us. a pick up full of people was stopped with a flat on the side of the road, and all three guys jumped out to help. other cars also pulled over, and it became a fix a flat party. later, the road was under construction and we had to wait for a half hour for a tractor to move. as we drove along, we had to wait again for another mud issue. finally, through our driver´s expert maneuvering, we were on the way again, when the car in front of us got stuck in a mud gully. another flock of men came to help push the car out as it spun its tires fruitlessly. other people came to watch, and when the car was finally through the puddle, all the onlookers began filling the road with rocks, and we were able to cross safely. the road then branched into two. cass and i watched as a car went over a tiny little bridge that looked as though it had been constructed with popsicle sticks. cass said, i would not do that! and then our driver met a steep ravine through the path we had chosen. so he threw the car in reverse and headed toward the bridge; i had to cover my eyes. finally, we made it to the town of baños, which is beautiful and tropical and has a thousand little cafes we can´t wait to try. today, we ate lunch at cafe hood, where the food is always good. it´s a colorful place with beautiful murals and pictures plastered all over the walls. and the food was good, we each had a delicious hot sandwich of onions, tomatoes, avocados, and cheese. i think it made me feel better as it was the first thing i´d eaten in a while, besides crackers and mandarins. we hope to make it to the forest within the next couple of days. i realize this is not a thrilling entry, still i wanted to let everyone know where i was and that i love you all very much.

yesterday, we walked 8 km to visit the saunas and hot springs of cuenca. we had to hike through some winding towns, up a hill, by cows and sheep and dusty little shops. the hot springs pool was chaotic with ecuadorian families and many splashing, yelping children. however, out of the damp mountainside were white washed adobe projections labeled for men and women. inside the sauna, there was an exterior room of showers, lockers, and foggy mirrors, but by entering a sweating glass door you entered a cave with dripping stone walls, and hot steam so thick, it was hard to breath. there was a grill through which much of the steam escaped, fixed with a rusted metal basket piled high with fragrant elaves. everyone had large plastic buckets of icy water to dip into when the heat became to much. there were many saggy breasted ecuadorian women, a young boy with cerebal palsy (?) and cass and i. we soaked in the heat as torrents of water dripped off our bodies. after trying out another sauna room, where we were welcomed to ecuador by two diminutive women, whose bathing suits barely held their drooping bosoms. afterwards, we enjoyed some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and some mandarins we´d bought on the road on the way up. then, it was onto bus 12 for the ride home. we ate a quiet dinner alongside the principal, or plaza de armas. cassidy braved another salad, and i ate chicken 4 rivers. i don´t why river was in the title, or four, because it was just chicken in mushroom sauce with mushrooms and olives. afterwards, we curled up in bed, where i finished my stupid tiger in the well book. then, cass encouraged me to go out. we went to a cuban restaurant, cafe eucalyptus, recommended by our hostel owner. it was a step back in time. large school maps of ecuador and cuba were drapped over the tall walls above a mural of black and white caricatures, below which a band was setting up. we were lead up a dark wood staircase to the smoky balcony, which framed the bar and dance floor. the waiter helped me off with my coat ( a fleece, que peña!) and we settled in to peruse the extensive sushi menu, varied entres, and catalogue of drinks. as we enjoyed our drinks, we were able to people watch, gazing around at the elaborately dressed ecuadorians, with their freshly styled and died hair, french manicures, and simple, elegant jewelry. the women allowed cigarettes to burn at the end of their elegantly cocked wrists and laughed throatily at the men´s jokes. as the music began, we hit the crowded dance floor, where i noticed a young guy in an electronic wheel chair with a look of pure joy as he moved to the music and watched the dancers shake to the band. we began to dance with him, and he introduced himself as freddy. freddy seemed to know everyone that passed by, and they each stopped to shake hands or exchange greetings. we felt very protected by him from the harmless, but lecherous, old men fringing the sides of the dance floor. cass ended up dancing with freddy´s friend, julian, who was a wonderful, nice, funny guy. freddy told me that his life had changed for the better since his accident, and it seemed evident that he was making the most of his altered life. i really enjoyed meeting him. this moring, we enjoyed another delicious breakfast at the hostel, which we shared this time with a brother and sister from holland, flor and jabe (?). we had planned to make riobamba tonight, but were coherced into taking a late bus as everything is shut down on sundays. we instead took an hour bus with flor and jabe to a neighboring town´s market. the market was not what we had expected, but ended up being beautiful. i had a glass of fruit juice and corn, more palatable than chicha, but still a corn drink. the market was set up in a central plaza and sheltered from the drizzing weather by many slick yellow and red umbrellas, below which, indigenous women had their fruits and vegetables layed out on blue tarps and blankets. piles of oranges, buckets of raspberries, tubs of strawberries, heaps of bound wildflowers and herbs, strange tubers and vivid pyramids of limes. the people themselves were eye catching as well, in their coarse, knee length skirts of rich primary colors. their tops were crimped around the buttons and embroidered with tiny flowers. i saw so many wizened old faces of rich brown skin and neat gray braids. many of the women wear white straw fedoras with black bands which they protected from the rain with neatly tucked plastic bugs. after strolling through the market, we marveled at a strange sculpture of a woman´s bust on top of a mountain of produce that sat proudly in the middle of a plazita. afterwards, we ducked in from the light drizzle to a chinese restaurant where i had tea, which was served with limes, a custom i love. then, the bus trip home, and hear i am. typing at a place with flat screens! much love to everyone, i´m very excited to be home, but simultaneously dread both the strategy of getting there and returning to routine. i wish i could be there for the dinner; dad, you are uncovering so much. still thinking about art! much love to everyone, d

ok, i feel dumb. cuenca is the actually name of the city.

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