¡Quito Liga Campeon!

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The three words used to title (translation: Quiot League Champion!) this blog are the three words that were screamed just outside my window from 11pm last night until roughly 4am this morning. Last night the Quito (capital of Ecuador) soccer league took on Brasil in the finals and won (that's right Shari). Sadly I was quite sick (I don't think I boiled the water for quite long enough this time...) and in bed. However, I could report at any moment what was happening in the game based on the noise outside my window, it was actually quite humorous to hear the symphony of noises whole city seemed to make in unison as a player approached the net and missed or made it.

I was able to safely travel from Cali, Colombia to Tulcan, Ecuador thanks to the help of a very nice police officer and countless mothers.

While in Tulcan (tiny city on the border with Colombia), I (first made sure it was safe by asking several local women) walked everywhere instead of taking the bus, the cool crisp mountain air (compared to the thick humid air of Cali) was simply too refreshing to resist. Then, at the end of the day I was all of the sudden exhausted. In the midst of beating myself up for getting that out of shape in the space of three weeks, I made the mental calculation between meters and feet and realized that in one day I had transitioned from sea level to roughly 9,000 feet. Good, Andra, good.

From Tulcan I took a bus to Otovalo, a slightly bigger town with a high indigenous population set between two very large volcanoes, Imbabura and Cotacachi. While I was only intending on staying here for a day or two at most, I stayed five because I absolutely fell in love with the town. Some adventures I was fortunate enough to have while in the town include:
-Experiencing the Saturday market which dates back to pre-Incan times (over 500 years ago) and takes over the entire town. You can buy anything ranging from a cow to a cell phone to hand crafted alpaca sweaters to bananas grilled in cheese. I came embarassingly close to buying a kitten...
-Staying in a hostal for a whopping $3 a night next door to a man who lived in the hostal and had in his little room: a typewriter, TV, radio, desk, books, and food.
-Hiking to the top of nearby Mount Fuya Fuya. When we got to the top, we were above the clouds and so it seemed like we were on a little bit of land surrounded by a white sea, we could not see any part of the mountain below us. This adventure was guided by a man of the Kichwa indigenous tribe who was nice enough to give me some lessons in the indigenous language while we were mountain biking down back to town.

From Otovalo, I took another bus to Quito two days ago and have been enjoying some incredible museums and art galleries (including Museo Guayasamin, thanks Julie for the recommendation!). I plan to stay here for a few more days and then venture into the Amazon jungle (with a tour company) for a week and then head to the beaches on the pacific coast. I decided while in Otovalo to spend the rest of my time (about 4 weeks) in Ecuador and maybe the northern part of Peru rather than rushing myself to get through Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The job I was going to have doing research with a medical anthropologist in Bolivia fell through because she will not get there until I am already back in the States (August 7th is when I will be back in Colorado). On the upside, she said I can work with her whenever our schedules overlap, so hopefully this opportunity is not lost...

Thanks to everyone who is reading this blog, it is really nice to have an excuse to pause every week and reflect. I apologize, there will be no pictures this time around, hopefully next week (JUST KIDDING, I was able to add them later!). I sincerely hope you are all thriving in all of your endeavors! Working, playing, traveling, etc...

I would also like to state here that I am sending some ENORMOUS WAVES of positive vibes to my cousin Whitney, who is getting married this weekend in Montana!!!

Que te vayas bien (hoping that all goes well with you),

Andra

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Photos

Hostal, Quito, Ecuador
Without the romantic lighting, it is a large room with 7 beds and sagging mattresses...I love it

Comments

[Yoolie]

cool bushes
i am jealous that you got to see the gardens in tulcan - we missed them on our little border-crossing adventure. Yeah for Otavalooooooo! And very good choice to stay in Ecuador, you will not be disappointed!