Ephemerica

OK, the rants first. I can’t remember if I mentioned before here that I’ve been reading the Harry Potter books in Spanish. I whipped through the last half of the third book last weekend so that we could ship it home with the rest of the little trinkets we were sending. Since then I’ve gone all over Quito to about 6 different bookstores looking for the fourth book, and nobody has it. There are plenty of the first three to be had, and I’ve seen the 5th and 6th as well (don’t think the last one is out in Spanish yet), but the fourth is apparently the most popular book of the series…they can’t keep it on the shelves! To be honest, I did find a hardcover version of it, but there’s no way I’m going to lug that thing around—the fourth book is thick enough already.

Rant #2: the price of M&M’s is outrageous in Quito. One of our big snack staples for riding down here has been a modified trail mix made of raisins and peanut M&M’s. We used to do raisins, peanuts and plain M&M’s, but the cost of the peanuts and M&M’s was enough that we decided it would be cheaper to just combine the two. Anyway, a bag that probably isn’t quite 300 g of peanut M&M’s costs just over US$10!!! They were mislabeled on the shelves (I was muttering to myself when I thought the bag only cost $6), and I didn’t realize how much they really cost until I got to the checkout counter and my three bags of M&M’s and three bags of raisins cost over $35!!! The good news is that the amount of trail mix should last us for several weeks (no snacking on trail mix after dinner anymore though). Some South American chocolate company needs to make an M&M substitute…the market is wide-open here!

Now on to the plug. We finally, after several attempts, got our panniers from our friends at Construbicis. We were expecting only one bag, but got a pair of bags that hang over the top of the rack on the back of the bike (much like real saddlebags). They aren’t waterproof, but are definitely well-constructed, and a great value at $40. We decided to sell Cindy’s remaining large Ortleib bag to one of the guys at the shop, and he seemed pretty excited because it is hard to get the bags down here (and we gave him a really good price). We were given little Ecuador charm bracelets (made with used chainlinks) as well to send us on the road. Once we actually do hit the road again, we can post a picture of the new bags in action.

As for when we are leaving…well, we were going to leave Tuesday morning (25th), but it was a little showery, so we decided to put it off until today, when I woke up with a horribly stiff Achilles tendon. I have absolutely no idea how it happened, but I can barely walk today…just getting old, I guess. So we’re in Quito for a few more days while I rest and pop ibuprofen like candy.

Posted by Matthew on September 26th, 2007 | Filed under: Ecuador