You´re Always Right: Loja and then some.

Christina's Perspective:
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So we were in Loja for about two days this past week. We got there and immediately found a hotel to stay at. We really wanted to treat ourselves, since we hadn't stayed in any hotels yet. So we splurged, oops. This place was very nice. TV, pool, hot tub, sauna, and best of all FREE BREAKFAST. Yes. So we got there at around 3 and rested for a good bit. At night, we walked around and bought some food, mostely bread and ice cream, from several different stores.

For the time I have spent in Ecuador, I have come to 2 conclusions:
1) Many people have never seen a white or asian person. Ever. So you will be stared at all the time.
2) Ice cream here sucks. No question. There is some name brand ice cream called pinguino that is pretty good, but everywhere else sucks.

I have several more conclusions, but I can't think of them right now. I'll work on that.

So at the end of our first night, we looked up some good eats in the Loja area and found a place called ¨Carbon Burger¨. So we decided to check it out. There were no tables inside but it was a really busy place. They cook your burger on top of coals, like in a barbeque. They tasted soooo good. They cook your burger, and on top of having all the condiments and everything on it, depending on your burger, they add bacon, guacamole, chicken, and an egg. The egg was awesome.
Brendon got a burger with an egg, bacon, BANANAS, and all the other typical toppings. His was quite tastey.
I got a simple-ish burger. I am a simple person. I just got it with meat and chicken. Oh well.
Oh yeah! And every burger they make comes with these really really think french fries that they put on the bottom. Really adds a wonderful crisp to them.

The next day we slept in and then went for a very long walk around the city. Freakin hike more like it. We climbed up this monstrous hill that made me want to die. Good thing it wasn't TOO hot, but it still killed. We walked around for several hours, and then went back to the hotel and jumped in the hot tub, which is not hot by any means. It's like bath water temperature.

At night we visited several different families that were all very wonderful and friendly.
The next morning, we ate lunch with one of the families. They ate crab and I ate chicken. I had never eaten crab before and if you know me at all you know I don't really care for trying new things. Heh.
I did try it though, and it was pretty good.

After that, we took a bus back to Cuenca, and stayed with the Merchan family once again. We also went to a baptism that night in Cuenca, and it was very nice.

That day happened to be Brendon's birthday, so we celebrated it with the Merchan family at night.
We bought Brendon an actual tailored suit that was made just for him. I consider that his birthday gift. Love you honey!

After Cuenca, we caught a bus to Machala, which is where we are now.

Pictures!