Hablas castellano porque necesito un amigo?

Do you speak Spanish because I need a friend? Ok, so I'm not that blunt, but since my Spanish hasn't improved as quickly as I would have liked, I have had to make more of an effort to reach out to locals to practice. I've been accused of and found guilty of hanging out with too many gringos over the last year. Meeting strangers has never been difficult for me. I even befriend the local animals and currently have a kitten who follows me around and insists on being my best friend. But since I hang out in hostels, I tend to meet more Europeans, Aussies and Israelis than anyone else.

In Cuenca, I met two musicians from Quito. David and Andres, who invited me out to listen to an orchestral concert. I gladly joined them and after the concert, we met up with one of their friends Mayra who is from Cuenca and we hit the town. We ate street food, watched fireworks from the Corpus Christi festival, laughed endlessly at a microbrewery and danced the night away at a hole in the wall salsa club. Wonderful and entertaining night...



Additionally, to help improve my Spanish, I returned for a few hours to focused Spanish school at the Simon Bolivar School for $8/hr www.bolivar2.com. I couldn't commit to or afford 4 hours a day again and so instead went for 2/day and reduced the cost of housing to $5/day to balance my budget. In the afternoons, we learned salsa and one evening we competed in a very long round of musical chairs. In the end, I beat out everyone including the last remaining tall Australian and won the whole event. My prize-my pride and an incredible dance workout.


Over the weekend, I bused up to Ingapirca, known for their Inca ruins and the sun festival of IntiRayma. David was already there and I met him and his friends who had camped there the night before. During the day, locals from varying regions dressed in forkloric costume danced to their traditional beats.



I followed some of the performers over to the ruins and hiked down to see the face in the rock that was either naturally made or formed by the help of a sculptor many years ago. No one is quite sure. On the hike, I befriended three guys from Riobambaba and they taught me the cool words in Spanish that I have sadly suddenly forgotten.



In the evening and throughout the entire morning, the village rocked the night away. Thousands bused in to celebrate the festival. David left that evening and I met more locals from Cuenca who are now part of my phone directory. I have so many names and numbers in my phonebook, I can't remember who is who. I just know that Rene or Oso (bear in Spanish) keeps texting me. At least I can practice my Spanish via short text. Throughout the night, I learned new Ecuadorian dance moves-another great workout.

At the bus station, an elderly woman befriended me. She told me of how one of her nieces met an American and after 4 months they got married in Ecuador. Discovering that I'm single, she is on the lookout for any man for me. Of course, my green card wedding gift is a great sell.

After a week, my Spanish improved a bit, but I still have quite a ways to go.