ecuador, in many parts.

The first in a series of posts about my trip to Ecuador to see mi mejor amiga. 

My 25th birthday was spent exploring the city of Quito and generally mocking tourists. I could not have dreamed of a better way to spend the day. We ventured to some artisan markets, visited some historic sites (see self-time photo above) and then ate some pizza. I have had pizza every year on my birthday for as long as I can remember. 

A few general thoughts on Quito:

• It is a city of mass chaos. There are stray dogs everywhere. Traffic flow is impossible to figure out. The bus system is scary. 
• It's cheap. And by cheap, I mean, dollar general cheap. 
• It is dirty and by dirty I mean, junior high school bathroom dirty.
• You cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet. Yes, you read that right. So, you sit on the toilet, clean yourself up and then throw the TP in the trash. It's like that all over Ecuador. Apparently the sewer system is bad. 
• It is beautiful. And by beautiful, I mean, like, a freakin' postcard. Coming from the concrete mecca of the world and flying into this place was seriously awesome. 

Doing some exploring of Church of La Basílica. From the top you could see a lot of the city. And at the bottom, they play pop music. That's right, Fergie. 

Checking out the city. You could see lots of neat things. Including...

People mugging down major. 

Stray dogs should be the national animal. Do countries have national animals?