Quito: Home of extreme weather

People, there is a huge thunderstorm here! Since you hate thunderstorms, a campaign for Quito 2015 probably wouldn't be very successful, Rach. Things are pretty intense- for the past five minutes I've been watching lightning and then before the lightning even finishes I hear the thunder. They say that you should count the seconds between when you see the lightning and when you hear the thunder, and that ever second between the two represents more or a less a mile of distance for the lightning. If that was the case, my dear vecino's stationary store would be struck! This thunderstorm has been accompanied by super super super strong rain and hail too. And to think that earlier this morning I walked out without a coat (but with an umbrella- I know how things can work around here)!

Other than extreme weather observing, it's been a slow transition back into the flow of things. Alvaro's French friend whom he met in Chile is currently living in Colombia and needed to leave the country to renew his tourist visa, so he came here to Ecuador! (I know, complicated right?) We hosted him starting on Thursday, and we took him out to the Centro Histórico, the Parque Carolina, and the Capilla del Hombre- Guayasamin's famous museum. We also played the card game Liverpool rummy, showed off the independent cinema/café near our place, prepared a big brunch, and took him out for a night of reggaeton/salsa/latino-gringo Top 40 dancing. It was nice to tour around Quito, even if I've been to these places a lot, although admittedly it's nice to be back in my "normal" schedule of not having a schedule but working on my thesis.