Quito y Otavalo

I left my family in Chicago in the early morning on January 8th. I flew from Chicago to Miami, and finally to Quito, Ecuador. For those of you that don't know, that was the first time I've ever been on an airplane, let alone leaving all of my family and friends that far behind me in the Midwest while I sought something else. There were two girls from my college that came on the same trip as me and thankfully, we stuck together most of the time. We arrived late in Quito but still had an early morning wake-up call the next morning. We had breakfast served by the hotel. Most of the food was the same as an American hotel; there were omelots, cereal, and different bread/buns offered. As you ate, you were high enough on the mountain in Quito to look over most of the city and see another mountain off in the distance a few miles. My first Ecuadorian tradition I tried that morning was fruit yogurt with my cereal-Cornflakes.
We had an orientation following the breakfast that lasted about 45 minutes, where I met the other 5 members of our group. Altogether, there are 8 of us-all girls and almost all from the Midwest (it just happened that way). We are the only ones staying throughout the full semester but there will also be small groups coming and going for a few weeks. We have been assigned roommates for this first week while we travel from town to town and staying in hotels before we meet our host families on Sunday. I have been assigned with a girl named Rachel. She's from St. Louis and we get along really well. The first night we talked, we found out we had a lot in common like playing soccer, love watching Disney movies, etc. etc.
Back to our activites, we left Quito and traveled a while before we stopped at the center of the earth-literally. This place was located at 0 degrees latitude and longitude. There was a giant sundial at this point that was actually found and made by the ancient tribe that once lived there-if I remember correctly, it was the Incas. After this stop, we headed to a smaller town named Otavalo. Here we were just kind of let loose to wander the streets using only a map, a small list of restaurants for lunch, and the little amount of Spanish most of us knew. Somehow, we were able to survive and ended up walking around town for a few hours before we finally settled for lunch at the hotel-of course, this being before we went back to shop at the market we had found.

Later that afternoon, we visted two workshops. One was a sort of music store where the man and his family made all of the instruments they played and sold. This man, named Mandala I believe, is very well-known in Ecuador because of his instruments and his band. We also went to another worshop where a man showed us his shop of weavings-they had everything from purses to scarves, hats, and sweaters all hand-made. He also introduced us to his small collection of guinea pigs (if you didn't know, guinea pig is a delicacy in Ecuador) which would later be sold or roasted. I also ate my first foreign fruit here. It was called taxo and is a little sour and bitter but is good. All you have to do is merely pull it off the tree and eat it, much like you would an apple. That night, we were once again free to go wherever we wanted (safely) for dinner. One of the leaders suggested going into a small restaurant-which ended up being really delicious.
Today, we had another short orientation during our breakfast. We then departed for a famous artist's museum. He is known throughout the world for his paintings and other designs. Then we left for Quito once again, stopping at the mall to eat and receiving a city tour soon after. Tonight, we are able to go out into Quito to find our own dinner and return to get enough rest for our trip to the Amazon Jungle tomorrow. Here we will hike, canoe, and travel all over until Saturday when we will travel to Patate to spend the night before meeting our host families for the first time in Cuenca on Sunday.

Overall, I am just in awe of this country. It is so beautiful and amazing that I take many pictures of the landscape while on the bus. I hate to fall asleep on the bus, but with all the trips we have had since we've gotten here, I am exhausted all the time. I cannot say exactly why everything is different in town, but I feel that there are more French and Spanish influences on the architecture, giving it a different style of its own. The roads are made of brick and concrete, but mostly brick because concrete is used mainly on wide roads. I wish I could understand the rules of driving here. I cannot even try to explain any rule because none of it makes sense. People in smaller towns are more friendly, but are less likely to speak English which makes it difficult to find our way around. I have already driven by volcanoes and huge cliffs, which make the drive a lot more interesting from one point to another. I have been lucky enough to not be sick or feel sick. The altitude seems to have no affect on me. Unfortunately, one of the girls from my college has been sick for a day now. She has already gone to the hospital to receive medicine that will hopefully reduce her flu. We all hope she will get better soon to join us on all of our adventures. As of the moment, this is all I really have to share for a few days. Until next time, I love you all and hope your new year is going well!