Quito: Candle lit dinner for 40

there was 40 people eating in the hostel last night, along one big table on the rooftop. its like being in the sky. as this city is 2800 metres above sea level,you can see clouds hugging the surrounding hills that should normally be very far away type of clouds. we actualy are in the sky.
some hippies (if i may) has set up a little shop selling bracelets and stuff at the end of the table , and some guy was showing guitar tricks to a few interested onlookers by the fire.(a useful popularity tool).
its pretty impressive that they can so efficiently serve everyone a 3 course meal from such a small kitchen. all the staff are volunteers ..apart from the chef.. the cleaning ladies..and the security guard.. but well the rest of them are. they get free food, accomodation and spanish lessons in exchange for running the hostel. i was a bit ooverwhelmed by just how many different stories were buzzing around the table. everybody having something to say or even brag about whatever there is do be done areound here. "oh i thaught that was easy" or "oh that was the highlight of the trip" "just get a bus from.. blahblah
there is a real mix of people, with different accents , different ways of dressing. some, i fear have travelled just a bit too long to be normal anymore ,and some are the quiet, just got off the plane 3 hours ago type. there is another kind of traveller here too, americans on a short holiday,who have come for a non stop an action-packed adventure squeezing in all the biggest (and most expensive) thrills that ecuador has to offer. then rush off back to being a project manager or whatever..
i spoke to yet another girl who just arrived from ireland, she was exactly the same as i has been , just a bit freaked out by the forst impressions of the urban jungle that is quito.




some paintings in the hostel