Tena to M-word to Quito - 8, 9 July 2015

In Tena. Alarm accidently goes off 2 hours early. Its pouring outside. No hot water. Keith wakes up as a "grumpy muffin". Jaime insists Keith try his Spanish and tutors him on how to ask if there is any hot water. She then follows him out to make sure he doesn't eff this simple task up. She is currently frustrated she is the main communicator. Jaime also killed a bug herself. We keep forgetting to take thr malaria medicine.

We found a delicious breakfast place with a massive plate of food for $3. Keith was no longer in a bad mood. He was elated and felt this type of establishment was made for him. Jaime decided to stare at others people's food and suffered food envy. This is a common occurrence. As previously stated, Jaime found her spice soul mate in aji, an Ecuadorian hot sauce.

It was a pleasant bus ride to M-word but it was pouring at end. Jaime and Keith sat under an awning with Gaylen, a San Francisco guy about to go to Berkeley. He looked liked he would fit in there. Nice guy though.

We stayed at Hostel de Paisano, which was really nice. We shopped around for a tour and decided (after talking to too many people) that they were too expensive and that Jaime's knowledge of what she wanted would carry the day. We ended up taking a cab to a boat ramp, then a motorized canoe to the wildlife refuge to see native animals and walk in the Amazon. The German tour guide became annoyed at some of the other humans on the tour, but when it was explained to him that they were teenage New Yorkers and that they are bad humans in general, all was well. We bonded with other Germans on the trip and a fun time was had by all. The highlight of the tour was when Jaime stepped on a bird. The bird was following the group and Jaime thought the bird would look better under the sole of her shoe. The bird did not appreciate this and Jaime promptly removed her shoe from the bird when the gasps from the other tourists became noticeable. The bird later pecked Jaime's toe in retaliation. Jaime allowed it to happen as her normally undeveloped conscious took a giant leap forward.

The return from the refuge saw our pair of heroes brave whitewater rapids and a bored driver. Good times. After a celebratory beer, we returned via taxi to M-word. In the room, Jaime downloaded multiple blog apps to Keith's phone and informed him that he was the witty one and that he should be the one to document the trip. Keith was unable to dispute this logic. Another highlight involved a flatulence barrier being dissolved. Prudence dictates that we not mention the offending party, but just know she was really embarrassed and super cute. Keith thought the whole thing hilarious. On to other news. Dinner of pan fried chicken and mushroom chicken was promptly devoured. Multiple beers were also consumed, including two overpriced artisan beers and two large Ecuadorian beers. All were delicious. The decision to return from the jungle was also made....

We woke up in M-word and tried to book our tickets to the Galapagos. Jaime almost had a nervous breakdown when the website would not process the payment. When we started, there were 5 tickets available. When the payment didn't go through, there were 3 tickets available. Shockingly enough, the payment didn't go through again. We tried one more time, but the airline had sold out of tickets. This is when the large group of Baptist missionaries that were staying in our hostel became alerted to our presence. They apparently came to the jungle to save the Indians, but the words that came out of Jaime's mouth had then reconsidering who actually needed saving.

Luckily, the owner of the hostel, Hostel el Paisano, was awesome and informed us that the website did the same thing to her the day before. She then assisted us with calling the airline. Turns out we had reserved all of the remaining tickets to the Galapagos.

After a delicious, but small breakfast of fruit and pancakes, we took the bus back to Tena. While searching for Avocados and a mask in Tena, and immediately before boarding their bus back to Quito, Keith thought it a good idea to place his right foot in a puddle of water. The look and smell of the puddle assures the viewer that at least 3 strains of hepatitis are present. Jaime thought the whole incident amusing. It is becoming increasingly clear she revels in Keith's misfortune.

Luckily for Keith, Jaime's bladder thought the trip to Quito should have been shorter. It turns out karma is on Team Keith.

The bus ride itself was eventful....at least for Keith as Jaime slept a portion of the time. At one point Keith handed a leftover airplane brownie to a girl with severe burn scars. The little girl snatched it from his hand with a quickness. The snatching was border line violent. Apparently she didn't want Keith to change his mind. Keith gave another to her brother. Both children said gracias; however, neither were willing to habla with Keith. The fact that they wouldn't habla was upsetting to Keith and Jaime. They wouldn't even smile. Children here don't smile. It's different. Jaime also found great joy in Keith use of "ha-bla"...

At one point Keith bought popcorn on the bus and proceeded to eat it with a ferver that bothered Jaime's sense of decorum. If Jaime was ever physically attracted to Keith, the popcorn inhalation put an end to it.

At one point during the popcorn inhalation Jaime came under the impression that Keith would save himself before her in the event of the bus sliding off the cliffs. While this possibility seems far fetched, there were multiple mudslides on the route and the route had just been reopened after several weeks of being closed.

There was also a debate over whether a mountain in the distance had snow on it. Jaime said it was a volcano. Keith said that fact was irrelevant to whether there was snow. Turns out, it was a volcano and it was snow.

We found a hostel near the airport and a restaurant right next door. We mixed the rest of our Avocados and aji that Jaime had purchased in Tena with our chicken, beans, and rice. Jaime also added another 3 bowls of aji to hers as she is currently infatuated with it. Turns out there was even a discussion of it taking the place of siracha in her heart. Keith does not believe such talk. The meal cost $9. Got back to the room and realized there was a hole in the floor.Read more