El Fin de la Semana

Yesterday after work a few of the people from work threw a small welcoming gathering for me and John, the other intern. It was at George's apartment, which is by far one of the nicest apartments I have ever been in. Like marble tiled entrance with an attendant nice. It was really great to be able to get to know a few of the people I work with a bit better. Paula, who is basically my manager, was the funniest. She had brought tequila, and almost as soon as we walked in the door informed us that it was a tequila night. Then we played a ridiculous card game she made up where random cards would mean you had to drink tequila. I got lucky, and only ended up having 2 shots, thank god. The really funny part is she hates tequila, I think she just thought it would be fun? Not sure. She is a very interesting person that is really fun to be around, both at work and out of work, which is rather ideal.

At eleven or so one of the girls who had not been drinking offered to take John and I to a bar for awhile, which was also fun. There is definitely some great people watching at the bars here. She was also nice enough to drive me home, which was much appreciated. The cabs here are generally pretty safe and cheap, but it always feels a lot more comfortable to be getting a ride from someone you know.

Today was a pretty relaxing day. I got up and had some breakfast and watched the movie Shopgirl in the living room. The hostal has a tv, and dvd player and really a pretty large collection of dvds. I think they are all the pirated ones you can get in markets, ah well. Then I decided to go to the mall and see if I could find something to eat for lunch. The mall is only 2 bus stops away, walkable but I was feeling lazy. It is a lot nicer than I expected. It is basically as nice, if not nicer, than most malls in the states. It has lots of designer clothing stores, and even an apple store. There also is a Tony Romas and TGI Fridays, you know traditional Ecuadorian food.

I need to be better about taking pictures. I did take a couple today from my hostel today. The first is the view at night from our roof. It is sort of hard to see anything in it, I will have to take a picture during the day. The other is the view from the window in my room.