....... The quote from Maria that resulted in hilarity in a taxi ....
Well, what a week, new housemates (Maria and Christina from Norway and Emma from Milton Keynes), people leaving, football games, a night out with the yah yahs (more of that later) and new people.
So, where to start ? Well, last week I got an email from Simon (Croz) who had first contacted me through this site about 4 months ago asking for advice / opinions on Costa Rica. I couldn't help him at the time because I was still in Nicaragua but we kept in touch. Anyway, he arrived here in Quito on Tuesday so I said if he wanted to meet up for a few beers I would be in Finn McCools (pub quiz night). Emma arrived at the house that day so I dragged the poor girl down there too .... jetlag is just a state of mind, anyway, we blame any ailment here on the altitude ! Tired ? It's the altitude. Headache ? It's the altitude. Dodgy stomach ? It's the altitude. Obviously it has nothing to do with copious amounts of alcohol the night before.
So the quiz went ok (Musical Theatre was my round this week, that got them stumped !), Simon's a really nice guy and interesting, he's just sold up everything back home, is looking to maybe buy somewhere in Costa Rica. Hugo and Alex's friends also arrived in Quito this week ... if I tell you that their team name for the pub quiz was Gap Year (pronounced Gap Yah) you will probably get the gist. I mean I know they are just kids really but their own little private school world is quite disconcerting. They completely ignored Helen and Karen (probably something to do with a state school background). I have honestly never met people like this in my life before. Daddy is paying for them, Daddy will get them a job once he has paid for them to go to Uni (apparently the word isn't university). They want to meet someone in their last year of Uni who they will fall in love with and marry. All planned out.
Helen (from Yorkshire) was telling me that she went to Durham University and she suffered badly from "State School" comments all the way through .... she said the first thing she heard when she and her mum were lugging her stuff to her room in the halls of residence were the following words coming from a room .... "Well really, I told her, you haven't lived if you haven't done Indonesia or Thailand". Helen calls these people the yah yahs - very accurate description I think !
So, Wednesday I arranged to meet Simon to watch the England v France game (enough said about that) so we found a great bar with screens all around with different international games going on. At one point we were watching England v France listening to commentary of another game which was in Portugese, all the while sitting in a Spanish speaking country. Very confusing. Anyway, this guy (Mark) at the bar came over and asked us if we were English, as soon as I heard his accent I knew he was Teesside ! Guisborough no less ! Small world. After the England game it got interesting as the bar started to fill up with locals - ready for Liga (Quito) v Arsenal (Argentina) in the Copa Libertadora (prob spelt wrong, South America version of Champions League). Liga won 6-1 and it was a great atmosphere !!
Next day, a bit worse for wear back to work with my little angels. We'd been having some problems with Enrique, Miguel and Louis for a few days, being disruptive so Cruz took me with her when she went to find their parents to ask them to deal with them. They didn't appear too bothered but to be fair the boys have been better since them. Let's see how long that lasts. Hugo and Alex were messing around tickling and swirling Wilmer and Franklin when Wilmer got a nosebleed. It's amazing how stoical these kids are, no tears, just deal with it.
So, Friday was Hugo and Alex's last night so I joined them and the ya yahs for a night of being ignored by their mates, luckily I dragged Helen and Emma along for company. Also Sally and Karla were there who are ok.
When I got back from Baños last week there were 2 Norwegans at the house, Maria and Christina who had stayed there before and were just here for the week. One night the 4 of us from the house went out. A lot of Quito's streets are named after important dates in history so when I heard Maria tell Emma to "never walk alone on the 10th August" I understood what she meant. Poor Emma though, having just arrived from England looked first confused and then replied, "er, it's ok, I won't be here then anyway" .... Maybe you had to be there !
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