Did some imperativo tenses or commands (mandatos), such as instructions in Spanish class today, using both positive commands and negative commands, which of course, require different conjugations and only apply to the third person singular (which is tu, I always have to think what the second and third person is, even for English). Of course, it's complicated by whether the verb is irregular or not and then there's the complication that some spellings don't exist, like zo and ge, so words ending in those have to spelt differently…! I swear my head is going to drop off as it is now spinning with all the different verb conjugations; I'm quite close to overload.

Anyway, for a break, she told me about an indigenous myto (myth or fairytale/story) where there once lived both people and condor(s), the latter of which lived very high up in the mountains. Neither group had much dealings with each other but one day a condor got a bit lonely and wanted companionship. So he kidnapped a young woman and took her back to a cave high in the mountains. There they lived together a number of years, whilst her family mourned and didn't know her whereabouts. The young chica was moderately happy enough for a while but still missed her family so much that she was no longer quite as happy as time went on. So the condor eventually let her go back home. So she went back home but then realized that she was pregnant. When she gave birth, she found that the baby was half-condor and half-human, and very soon after the birth, it died. The woman was so grief-stricken, she died too. Of course, I don't know if there is a point to this story or if there is a moral - I didn't get a chance to ask as it was pretty much end of the morning class (and perhaps/probably [!] I wouldn't have been able to frame the question in Spanish!). Of course, I then had to recount back the story as best as I could…

Afterwards, in the afternoon I thought I'd try my luck again at el ferretario¸ for wellies was and lucky enough, this time, to find two pairs of size 35 boots, which with thick socks, will do. So I bought them and decided that I needed to drop them off before trying to see the muséo nacíonal, which is only about cinco cuardras (five blocks) down from the school. My teacher took the time some time ago to give me a short list of her recommendations of the sights to see in Quito and it included this museum as which has some historical objects, including those of the indigenas.

Of course, when I went home to drop off the boots, I then find out that my guide book thinks that the same ferretario that I went to for the boots sells mosquito nets, but I decided I could finish there after doing the muséo. So I walked the requisite five blocks and actually bumped into her (my teacher, that is) at the information desk with her student for the afternoon.

There were quite a few ceramics and I attempted to translate a few of the larger passages in the museum (did OK, too - much better at reading it than speaking!) until my brain got tired and I couldn't take any more in, either reading or looking around. There was an interesting find of an indigenous woman found buried there too with descriptions of what she was wearing when found. The museum seemed quite popular as there were a couple of classes of school kids being taken round by their teachers towards the end of my visit. No photos were allowed and I had to hand in my bag to reception, which is a shame. There was also a passage about the indigenous people chewing cocaine which helped to alleviate pain, tiredness, etc.

Whilst trying to check out the whereabouts of the South American Explorers (which apparently has excellent information on how to get about Ecuador, etc), I came across the La Mariscal mercado artesiano which I'm thinking must be a mini version of Otavalo market that I'm hoping to catch the local bus to on Saturday. It was marvellous to wander down these narrow aisles of stalls selling all sorts of T-shirt (Galapagos, anyone), embroidered blouses, wall hangings (wood, tapestries), jumpers, hats, purses, leather jackets, bags (leather and embroidered/woven), jewellery (costume and silver, I think - didn't look too closely), shoes and boots. Of course, a lot of them had very similar offerings, so much so, that I did get a slight sense of déjà vu a couple of times! But it was still very interesting and pleasant to wander around. I did buy a pink alpaca hooded top (Quito, when it rains and first thing in the morning is freezing! Or tengo mucho frio, as most of us complain) similar to the one that Monica, my Swedish housemate has, but I didn't want to get the same grey one that she has. I duly bargained for it and got it at $14 from $18. I later found out that Monica got hers for $15 from $20, whilst Monika (house mother) reckons you can get it for $8 at Otavalo. (Having said that, Fiona at school said that her teacher told her that at Otavalo, you shouldn't pay more than $15 for a jumper or more than $4/5 for trousers!)

After such a successful (?) negotiation and having increased my store of warm clothes by one, I hurried off to the ferretaria where they didn't recognise my dictionary's word for a mosquito net (I had to supplemnt with other Spanish words) and was merely shown metallic and plastic netting that you would use for a fence or garden. The shop assistant said that they had nothing else - so much for the guide book!

I then hurried back home to dump most of my stuff in time for the Spanish (free!) afternoon salsa class, which was only attended by four of us, which was quite nice really. I finally got that turn sorted out that I couldn't understand yesterday! The teacher at the school was really much better at showing what was required than the previous guy who kept showing the same thing and altering his method of showing me so that I could understand what he wanted and he did it way too fast for me to get round what my feet should be doing!

So all in all, a successful day, just a mosquito net to get now - saw one near the Plaza Foch but it cost even more than the first shop we saw early last week (and whose location I can't remember!) at $15 (a sandwich costs $2.50; a meal for about $5), so it seems very expensive (caro) by comparison. Since I don't think I'll get bitten at night, sleeping, but in the evening (where I'm sure to be so cold, I'll be covered up), I don't know whether to trust Monika's conviction that there will be mosquito nets at the reserve (La Hesperia) from where previous volunteers have left them. But I'm not sure, maybe I'll get one anyway. Of course, with trying to fit in a sleeping bag which took up a lot of space in my luggage, I left my completely new, unused mosquito net at home (together with clothes) at home.