This morning's class we had an impromptu lesson in herbs (hierbas) where I got shown mint, spearmint, rosemary, oregano, lemon verbena and rue, and got asked what I knew about them and their medicinal properties. Said I knew that they had medicinal properties but that I was more familiar with their uses in cooking. I was told about their different properties and uses by the Ecuadorians, such as that rue (ruda) is used near entrances as it is believed that they ward off evil spirits; and if I remember correctly, that oregano tea can be an emetic (makes you vomit), and that mint/spearmint are used for the digestive system (but slightly different uses); that lemon verbena (citron) was good for when it was cold and rosemary (romero) for topical uses in preparations for hair, and skin. However, the rue, because it's bitter (or sour?) is also grown with another herb which is sweeter, to provide balance, and which I think is dill.

In turn, my teacher was amazed (and not convinced!) when I said that we used rosemary, oregano and thyme in cooking, and that most people wouldn't know what medicinal properties most herbs could be used for. We then had a little wander for two or three blocks where we saw different trees on the pavement or in people's gardens, where they are not just grown for decoration but for medicinal properties or for protection as many people use them instead of going to a doctor. I found it really interesting that the peyote cactus (which contains the Class A drug mescaline) is also grown near the door to act as protection against evil spirits. Also, the indiginous shamans extract and concentrate it for their rituals and predicting the future but also use it to clean and purify the body when it is drunk in huge quantities of dilute liquid (think it makes you vomit). She insists that mescaline (mescalina) is not controlled in Ecuador.

This Wednesday afternoon, the school had a cocktail-making lesson and had recipes for 3 cocktails: caipirina, mojito and canalezo, which is a hot cocktail, typical of Ecuador and especially Quito, I think.

Rather unsurprisingly, the cocktail class was two to three times larger than the merengue class the previous night....We had a demonstration in how to make a caipirina cocktail: cut limes roughly ground with a pestle in a glass, brown sugar on top (to taste), ice, and agua ardiente (alcohol, I don't know what it is, think it might be white rum). Mix, and drink with a top-up of lemonade, if needed/wanted.

Had two caipirinas and didn't get to see or taste any mojitos - most of the limes having been used up (and the alcohol!). Later, we got an explanation of how to make canalezo, as opposed to a demonstration, which requires that it is boiled/simmered for an hour...

It was very amusing to learn about the canalezo, which uses sugar, cinnamon, narajilla (an Ecuadorian fruit), the alcohol agua ardiente (I think) and hot water, especially the long Ecuadorian version of "Cheers" which is accompanied by the relevant motions: arriba (above)...abajo (below)...el centro (middle)... un poco de me viemiento...(I think it means a little movement, accompanied by a circular motion)...a dentro (inside) as well as the accompanying gestures.
Of course, there was the obligatory smashing of one or two of the glass tumblers as well as the (empty) bottle of alcohol (not by me, I hasten to add!).

After the cocktails (two caipirinas and a small shot of canalezo), I had dinner before meeting up with some of the students for Ladies Night (Wednesdays), where some clubs offer free entry and free drinks to ladies before a certain time.

Had some initial difficulty finding a suitable club (one was pretty empty so we left pretty quickly after inspection - luckily, they let us all for free to check it out, so the guys hadn't had to pay, so we were able to leave pretty sharpish.

We found another bar, which looked a bit shady (countertop of the bar had cutout pictures of men and women with their tops off) but it filled up pretty quickly (mostly, students from our Spanish school, it seemed!) and the music improved after about half an hour, so we stayed for a bit before restlessness made the group go looking for another club. After trying to find a club recommended by an acquaintance and circling the same block two or three times trying to find it, I decided that enough was enough, and I went home in a taxi (recommended in the evenings, even though it was only two blocks away), while the others tried to find a salsa bar.