Potato day.

We just spent the entire day in Quito. The house we're staying at is in Tumbaco, which is about twenty minutes from downtown Quito. So today was Día Nacional de la Papa. Yes, that's right, the entire country celebrated potatoes today. There was a big celebration in la Plaza San Francisco that consisted of guitar playing, singing, dancing and "el locro mas grande del mundo" or the biggest soup in the world. In the middle of the square there was a giant pot of potato soup. We got some of el locro for lunch with Laura, a member of our host family. It was potato, queso fresco, and avocado. Muy delicioso!

 

National Potato Day was obviously my favorite part of today. My second favorite part was going to the top of La Bisilica. Well, almost the top. The altitude hasn't been affecting us too badly, but with all the walking today we were feeling a little out of breath. By the time we went up the first set of deathly steep stairs, we decided that one level was enough. We got a beautiful view of Quito, without dying. Our host family was laughing at us at dinner about it, especially as we were describing it and Courtney grabbed her chest and said, "mi corazón!"

Speaking of our host family, they're the best! They're so welcoming and are helping us practice Spanish. Y que rica la comida! We're going to a family lunch tomorrow. We're not sure what to expect but it sounds like a great time. We're also going to go to mass at the church in Tumbaco, the neighborhood we're staying in. Well, estoy cansada so I'm going to go to sleep!

P.S. I feel like Dora the Explorer every time I type a sentence half in Spanish, half in English.

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