Hostal Characters...

I´m currently still in Quito, getting ready to leave for a place called Latacunga. From here I will be doing what´s called the ¨Quilotoa Loop¨- essentially a three-day hike around a lake. Expect no emails for a few days. I have been hearing that the trek is safe, and I am going with a girl that I met here in the hostal in Quito.
Since my arrival in Quito, I have met some very interesting people, as is common while staying in hostels. Just thought I´d give a couple details on some interesting characters in particular. Firstly is Raul, a tall and lanky guy from Spain. He accompanied Kate and myself to the Teleferiquo cable car yesterday and to an art museum today. He is absolutely hilarious- his mannerisms, accent, and enthusiasm for all things remind me of none other than Borat. He finds everything ¨curious¨, using this word in the same context as anyone else would use the words ¨weird¨or ¨unusual¨. He kept me almost in tears yesterday, especially when he took my challenge to race up a hill at 4200metres elevation and we both almost passed out after about 10 paces.
The second character would be the middle-aged Philipino man who appears to be living here at the hostal. Raul shares a dorm with him and tells me that he has woken up in the middle up the night to alot of grunting and groaning, and for this he feels very uncomfortable. The two of them had an argument last evening about how to best fend of wild dogs while trekking in Ecuador- it got pretty heated.
The third and most ridiculous character would be the other middle-aged man, originally from Poland but now living in Montreal, who also appears to be a long-term resident of the hostal. My first encounter with him was when he told me a story about how Manitobans really do live up to the ¨friendly¨slogan, as he was assisted to fill his empty gas tank on the highway outside Winnipeg. Good enough, normal conversation. He then goes on to talk about his experiences and views about the cocaine in Colombia, and also about how he was very disappointed by an experience he had in Cartagena. He tells us that he was promised ¨fresh college graduates¨by some pimp in the street, but when he arrived to where they were to be had, the girls were cleary no graduates of anything.
Another of his stories involves him going to a club in Bolivia. He says he had been eyeing up a fancy dance-floor in the bar for awhile, wondering why no one was dancing on it. Finally he decided he was going to test it out, only to find himself falling up to his neck in a pool of water after stepping onto the ¨dance-floor¨. What took the cake though was his story about his 2 months in the Galapagos. He claims there is a turtle there that refuses to mate but is the last of it´s species. He tells us that the park hired a ¨woman from Switzerland who arrived to the island with a suitcase to masterbate the turtle¨. The funniest stories I have ever heard from this guy. Did I mention he has the wild disheveled hair of Jack Nicholson and the same sort of facial expressions? Priceless.
Gotta run...