Quito, Ecuador

We are both oscillating with excitement to actually be here, south of the bulge, new continent, more things to see. The most striking things so far are beautiful people, dark skin, great noses framed with strong cheekbones. And the food. We ate the carbohydrate equivalent of a mango today, a humita. And the altitude. The walkway off the plane was like running up an escalator in the wrong direction, except nothing was moving, and I think it was downhill. The guy with the neat hat passed us like we weren´t moving, must be from here.

Kim here now. I think this is my favorite place I´ve ever been. The food is amazing. I didn´t know corn could taste so many different ways. The humita was like a tamale, but sweet, and something else that we can´t identify, and it tasted more like corn than corn ever has. Douglas says I´m being premature saying this is my favorite place ever, and maybe it´s a little hasty after only 8 hours. Maybe that´s true. But I don´t think so. Quito is nestled in the Andes, more green than I expected. It´s also more modern, and less like Central America than I expected. There are Canadian-style buses running around town. I haven´t seen a single farm animal yet. And we went to an art market that was absolutely incredible.

d here| They´ve just fired up a bonfire on the sidewalk across the street (so much for being like Canada) in front of a cafe, so we´re off.