Happy Pretendiversary!

Trip Start Dec 10, 2009
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Trip End Dec 20, 2009


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Where I stayed
Hostal Timara

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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Shen doesn't approve of the term 'pretendiversary,' but it just seems weird to call it an anniversary.  Today is two years exactly from our first date, when I showed up 20 minutes late to dinner with a man who I was pretty sure was too young for me.  Not long into our first round of tapas, I still hadn't figured out his age, but I had certainly figured out that I was pissed I had worn a turtleneck! I remember excusing myself to the bathroom, trying to pretty myself up and regretting that I had rushed out of the office without even brushing my hair.  Luckily that first date was followed by a winter hike, a New Year's Eve party, a snowboard lesson...and two years later, a week in Ecuador!

Shen flew in from his conference in the Amazon yesterday afternoon, and we were so excited to see each other that we both immediately fell asleep.  We had planned to wander around Old Town, but...what can I say, we're lame
Pics from the road
Pics from the road
.  He had met some really great people at his conference, so we met up with them and Kelly for dinner.  We were staying near La Mariscal, a tourist zone in Quito that I'm absolutely ashamed to admit that I love.  It's noisy, full of flashing lights and drunken revelry, and on a Friday night it's a madhouse.  We had dinner at the Magic Bean (highly recommended!) then went dancing.  It was super fun and that is, of course, where the night should have ended.  So how we wound up in a local karaoke bar is really beyond me.  I'm sure the all-Ecuadorian crowd was appalled at our Spanish attempts at Shakira, but I think we made a pretty good showing on Eternal Flame.

Needless to say, today was not productive.  But our main goal was to get to Banos, which we accomplished.  We celebrated our Pretendiversary at Casa Hood, a nice if gringo-centered restaurant, and Shen gave me a beautiful necklace made from Amazonian seeds and nuts (OK, it's much prettier than it sounds - it sounds like something you'd want to eat!).  His conference was on sustainable education, and the necklace was made by local students as part of livelihood training.  I couldn't love it more.  This next part sounds too corny to be true, but - Banos is in the middle of a festival, so as we were on our way to bed, a fireworks show started in the main plaza.  We went up on the roof of our building, which at 4 stories was one of the tallest, and ended our Pretendiversary with a spectacular laser and fireworks show.  Ridiculous! We are constantly amazed by how fortunate we are.

We have tomorrow to wander around Banos, then we're heading into the jungle.  I promise to write more about - well, Ecuador! - in the next entries.
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