I have intestines in my intestines...

Cow intestines, to be precise. But I´m getting ahead of myself. Last night I had this amazing dinner made Vane (my host mom´s nickname....pronounced Bah-ney...kindof) and was quizzed on all of the object in the kitchen. I have practiced saying refrigeradora eight gazillion times. Luis´s attempt to pronounce fork was far more amusing. This morning I went with Vane to the gym, much to Justin´s horror. He was convinced that altitude sickness was going to strike me dead the moment I stepped foot in the place. After all, we´d only been in Ecuador a day. I did agree that I would take it easy - just run a couple of miles on the treadmill or use the elliptical. Somehow I didn´t quite manage to get this idea across to the owner of the gym who obviously thought I´d come solely to join his Spinning class. He also placed me on the bike front and center of the room, which meant that my pride was at stake whenever he yelled at us to go faster. Sadist. Justin took a picture of me when I returned, however, that picture will NOT be posted on this blog...right, Justin?

After I cleaned up, I put on my daily applications of suncreen to all exposed body surfaces (50spf lotion to the face, 70 spf spray elsewhere), ensuring that I will return with the same unhealthy paleness that I left with. Then Justin and I headed out to the historic district of Quito. We´re becoming quite adept at figuring out the bus system (aka lucky guesses with the aid of our Lonely Planet guide book and a map). Justin and I each picked a place that we wanted to go. I wanted to go to an old cathedral called the Basilica. It was a bit of a hike to get to (which my Spinning-fried legs appreciated), but the view was worth it. See some of the pictures below.

Apparently, Justin is afraid of heights. My main reason for choosing the Basilica was because the description in the guide mentioned crossing a rickety wooden bridge and climbing multiple ladders to get to the top of the towers. I cannot begin to describe how amusing I found this trip. Justin´s profanity was directly proportional to how high we were. Absolutely freakin´hysterical, especially since he´s normally so relaxed and fun. See more pictures below (especiallyt the one where Justin has a death grip on the bar).

I may not be afraid of heights, but Justin is not afraid of food...any food. As repayment for the abuse he had to endure, Justin decided that we would eat lunch at a restaurant whose specialty was guatita - cow intestine. And then we hiked up an entire freakin´mountain to see up close a statue of the virgin Mary. However, as these were Justin´s choices for the day, he gets to blog about our experiences there. I´ll make sure he doesn´t leave out anything important. Enough from me for now :)