Chocolate con crema, and other more alcoholic drinks...

It's about high time I had some good wine in this country. Last night, I went to the Mariscal, the restuarant/bar/discoteka-awesomeness part of Quito. I went with my friend Jan, a guy from Norway who I had classes with for the first 3 weeks, and his boss, Bernardo, who owns the Teatro Bolivar. We went to Latitude, this INCREDIBLE wine and tapas restuarant. It was amazing. For a flat price (there were different levels) you could eat and drink all you wanted. We got the $16 level, and went through two bottles of two different amazing red wines (Chilean I believe). We also had so many different and amazing tapas. Things made with spinach and cheese, quail eggs, mussels, stuffed red bell peppers, and I can't even remember what else! We were there a good two hours, just talking, eating, drinking.

I really enjoyed being out with both of them, especially since they're both older than me. I've always had an easier time relating to people older than me than my peers. Jan is 36 and Bernardo is probably 46. It was really incredible talking with them, and we talked about religion, music, politics, art, movies, and everything in between. I didn't feel out of place at all being so much younger, and the only time it was (not really) awkward was when I mentioned my parent's first date was the first Star Wars and Jan insisted on changing the subject because he was 7 years old then! It was more hilarious than anything else though.

Afterwards, we walked around to visit some bars. We first tried to go into La Boca del Lobo, a gay bar that's really incredible, but it was too full for us to get seats. We then went to a bar called Cats, that always plays music from the 70s and 80s. It had such a cool vibe, and we just chilled in the cozyness of it and got some nice non-alcoholic drinks. (I got an incredible hot chocolate with cream, mmmmm...) We then were going to play foozball, but there was a group of guys playing who looked pretty intense, and decided to go on to the next bar. The next bar was outside of the Mariscal, and Bernardo drove us. It was called Seceribo. There were two dance floors full of people dancing salsa, which was amazing to watch. I had my first Mojito, and after sitting and watching a little while (and listening to Jan and Bernardo make comments about wishing they could dance like that), the three of us got up and started dancing in the middle of the floor together. It was so much fun, and it felt so good to dance! Afterwards, we went to Pistacho, the final bar of the evening. It had a real chill and alternative vibe, and was nice to sit there listening to the music, and watch Benny Hill without sound on the tv on the wall. I got a Melon Martini, which wasn't bad, and we all just relaxed. Not long after, they drove me home (which I really appreciated. I didn't feel like taking a cab).

It was tons of fun, and I can't wait to go to the barbeque at Bernardo's hacienda tomorrow (Sunday). And I'm hoping to go out dancing tonight with other people. We'll see how that goes. I'm really loving that all the other Pitzer kids are out of town and I'm finally getting a chance to know the city and hang out with other people and make other friends. =)