Yes, I really did do that. I was tired of my hair looking like shit, and there´s no way I´m washing it in cold water. And I don´t have a blowdryer. And I don´t have an electrical outlet for the flatiron, so this morning I stopped in to a basic type salon and had the proprietress wash my hair and blow it out. I guess I am not really one for roughing it. I like toilet paper, you know?
I am in Ecuador right now, for those few readers who may not know already, and I´m currently in the mountain city of Cuenca. It´s the country´s third largest city, after Quito and Guayaquil. I took a bus here from Guayaquil, and I have to say that it was both beautiful and utterly terrifying. I can´t sleep at night because I so desperately do not want to die here by plunging off the road into a three thousand foot drop. I want to see my son again. I didn´t used to be so afraid, but having children changes that. It makes you realize the value of your life.
Tommorrow I will visist some Incan ruins, at Ingapirca, and then Monday I will go to the little town of Baños, just outside of Cuenca (there´s another, more famous, Baños in the north, near Quito), and bathe in the hot volcanic bath. Not going to wreck my blowout if I can help it, though. Tuesday, I´ll leave my hotel with all of my things and meet a bus that will take me on a tour of Cajas, the national park. Cuenca itself is at 8500 feet elevation, and Cajas is even higher, so it works out well that I will have had a few days to acclimate before I have to go higher. When I first got here, I was getting winded just walking around, and there´s been less of that today already. I walked all over this city today. Some of it was even intentional. Some of it was me getting muy perdida trying to find the travel company that takes people into Cajas. You can´t go in there without a guide unless you have a compass and supplies and stuff, so originally I didn´t think I would get to see it. I paid the same company too much money to also take me to Ingapirca, but the regular bus doesn´t go there on Sunday and this is the only way it works out. Nonetheless, without doing any major shopping here, the extra expense is not that big of a deal. I am fairly sure the whole trip is going to be under $1200, including airfare and phone calls home at two dollars a minute.
Speaking of which, I´m going to wrap it up, so I can head back to my little hostal and call Mr. Baby himself. He left me the cutest message this morning, and I almost missed hearing it. When I called my voicemail, the message began but no one was really talking and I very nearly just fast forwarded to the end and then erased it. But I´m super curious, so I kept listening, and I´m so glad I did! The kiss he left me at the end was so enthusiastic that it almost sounded like a growl! He´s going to be disappointed when he discovers that what I brought him back is sweaters. You get what´s good when you go somewhere, and here it´s woolens, Panama hats, and leather. For myself I have bought only a necklace that cost $10 but is big and chunky like it should be for now. I also got him a tiny Panama hat that he can put on his finger puppets.
