Uniforms and Soup Surprise

So far there have been no boring days. There is always something interesting to see, something different to eat or someone new to meet. 

I got my school uniform today. Tensions were running high in the room where they sold them at school because we gringos were holding up the whole line. It was a great relief to get out of there. I think we were about 2 minutes from seeing someone in that line have a meltdown. 

Then we took a taxi, yes, 5 of us in one taxi, to the old city to buy the jackets and pants of the uniforms. I hadn't been to the old city before, it really is something to see. The streets are colorful, architecturally magnificent and bustling with life.  Backpackers are everywhere because it is the most touristy part of the city, and where there are tourists, there are tourist traps. The locals have schemed up so many great ways of parting the tourists from their money. There are fire breathers, jugglers and merchants, and of course, pickpockets. I could sit there on the sidewalk and watch the world go by for hours. 

But we were in a hurry and there was no time for people watching. We went into a small store that seemed never to end. It had an extensive amount of rooms and lofts for such a seemingly small space. The whole shop was filled with uniforms, I'm talking wall to wall, floor to ceiling. All uniforms of different schools in Ecuador and South America. It is really strange going from my high school back home where half the students have never even seen a school uniform, to here, where mobs of identically dressed youth flock at bus stops and bars. 

We got our jackets and pants, none of which fit very well, and we packed back into the taxi like sardines. 

I met my other brother, Fernando, today and we wandered around some of the malls looking for somewhere where I could buy a skateboard. It was a failed mission but, interesting none the less. 

Up until tonight I could have proudly said that I had tried all the foods given to me so far. But dinner tonight tarnished my record. We were having coffee and bread as normal and then Rosa, the cook / maid, gave me a bowl of soup because the night before I had said that I was often hungry later on in the day. So I started eating the soup without asking what was in it because everything she makes is delicious. The television was on as it always is in the kitchen and I was watching the news as I ate, not really paying attention to my soup. I was just about to down another spoonful when I glanced down at my dinner. To my shock / horror / disgust, there was chicken foot floating around in my soup. I nearly dropped the spoon and yelled. It really did scare me. This was a chicken foot, plain and simple, it was scaly and had toes and everything.  I finished the soup, thought it didn't quite seem as good as before, and left the foot. Rosa understood, she thought it was hilarious. 

Getting these pictures up is really testing me. Dan your HTML skills are second to none, but I can't even upload photos to an image hosting site. If you have facebook, I have some up there so take a look. If not, you will just have to wait a bit i guess.