jan 14

Today I woke up early, around 9am. I called my friend Kraig at 10:15 and it woke him up. We had planned to go to Old Quito today around 11am but that didn’t really happen. We didn’t end up leaving until around 2:45ish. But it was still okay.
We got the trolley to Old Quito and had no problems. Once we got there though, I had to walk up this really steep hill to get to La Basilica and I thought I was going to pass out. I don’t know why the altitude doesn’t seem to bother anyone else but me, but its starting to annoy me a bit. Once we reached the top of the hill, we were at La Basilica. It is HUGE. It’s so high. Well, I know there are taller buildings in the world but this might have been the highest I have ever climbed in my life. I know that I’ve been to some high places, but this was a completely different experience.
We got into the church and saw the confessional booths and some cool Christmas decorations and then headed for the stairs. Two flights up and I was already out of breath. But I pushed myself because I knew it was a once in a lifetime experience. I’m in a different country for goodness sake, I’m going to do everything I can get the chance to!
At first, the stairs were normal. We got to level three and we looked through binoculars and saw the HUGE Virgin statue that is on the hill in front of us. Then we found the real stairs, which is where I about peed my pants. These stairs were much smaller and closer together. We reached a landing, where I felt like I had finally conquered the Bell Tower. No. I was completely wrong. The next stairs were winding stairs, you know, the rickety old metal winding stairs that go around in circles. I got to another landing, but the winding stairs were still leading upwards. I mustered the strength to get to the top of the green stairs, and it was really worth it!! But then, there was a ladder. A metal ladder. I did it. I went up the ladder. And the next one after that. The third and final ladder however, had rungs about 2 feet apart from each other. I was scared out of my mind. But I did it. Once you reach the final landing, you are practically in the top of the cone of the Bell Tower. And there’s not really a landing, it’s like wire criss crossing with beams about a foot apart from one another. I didn’t get off the ladder. I sat on a beam at the top of the ladder and had Kraig take my picture J. I was SO proud of myself. I was about to die. And I did all this in my Birkenstocks, mind you!!! You should all be super proud. It was a really huge feat for me. I really thought I couldn’t do it!!!
Anyways, then we went to the other smaller tower, which we had to cross an Indiana Jones-like bridge to get to, in addition to some more freaky ladders. It was worth it though. The view, from both of the towers, was INCREDIBLE. You could see SO much!!!!! Oh it was amazing!!!
Then we met up with some other girls and ate at a Fair Trade restaurant that we found. It was somewhat more expensive than most of the places I have eaten at here, which means my sandwich was about $4.00 and my drink $2.00 (compared to a $2.00 meal complete with drink and dessert). But it was good. The food was really fresh and really good. And it made me happy to see a Fair Trade place. The restaurant also had a gift shop where Kathy bought a pair of earrings for $20. I found a really cute purse but it was $37, which is a little out of my price range. I almost did it just because I was so happy to see a Fair Trade place, but I decided against it.
I do need a new purse, though. The strap on mine is falling apart from the bag. Just a side note. I will fix it asap J
Then, Kraig, Brett & I headed for the bus. We actually got on the wrong bus and at the stop where I said, “Boys, we need to get off. This is not right.” We realized we were actually at the street we were looking for. We had gotten on the wrong bus, but it was about a 15 minute walk from where we were to Brett’s house. So it worked out splendidly. We hung out on Brett’s HUGE porch/balcony for a while and then Kraig and I grabbed a taxi home.
I called mom because she had called me yesterday and I hadn’t gotten a chance to call her back yet. Looks like I am going to get that internet for the house tomorrow if I get a chance. Also looks like Wachovia only charged me $2 for my withdrawal, which isn’t too bad.
I also found out that my Hokies beat the UNC Tarheels J Way to go, boys!!! I will have to tell the few people that I have met from NC tomorrow about that news if I see them J
Hmm…I guess that’s about it. I’m gonna watch a little Grey’s & then head to bed. Getting up early tomorrow because I have a lot to do before my class at 12:30pm.