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Landscape
this doesn't even come close to capturing the real thing. The last couple of days have been just as hectic as the first 24 hours. We had a couple more days of orientation at IES center and Universidad San Francisco de Quito as well as two days of touring around the region.
Yesterday, we traveled to Otavalo, about two hours north of the city to visit the largest indigenous market in South America. The indigenous community is still really strong in certain parts of Ecuador and they make incredible handcrafted goods including clothes, hammocks, paintings, jewelry.. anything you could possibly think of. I really loved the trip to Otavalo because it was such a scenic drive through the mountains. Around every turn, there was an unbelievable view of the Andes and the valleys. We witnessed the most unbelievable landscapes and they were just on the side of the road.
The drivers in this country, though, are a little less impressive than the mountains. Everyone drives around 70 mph and there is really no concept of a specific lane, turn signals, or traffic lights. The drivers will pass on a double solid, around a blind curve without thinking twice. The person being passed simply moves onto the shoulder and if
Woman
Traditional dress of Otavalan women... and a llama. there turns out to be someone coming the other way, that person goes onto the shoulder too and magically there are three lanes. I can't imagine that there are many cyclists around here because they would be hit by a car within 2 minutes on the road. The drivers are even worse in the city. They have no respect for pedestrians.. we are equivalent or less important than livestock and the bus drivers drive like maniacs. I am just really happy that I can depend on public transportation while I'm down here.
I was completely amazed by Otavalo and the indigenous people. They are so smart and industrious. Most of them speak Quichua(the main native language in the area), Spanish, and a bit of English and they have so much pride in their culture. The women wear the most ornate and beautiful outfits with necklaces and bracelets and beautiful hair pieces. Most of the women wear pure white tops too which I can only imagine are incredibly difficult to keep clean. Rural Ecuador is very, very dusty and all the indigenous people work so hard that I would think they have to wash their tops almost every day to
keep them so beautiful. The people themselves are beautiful too. Ecuadorian children are the cutest things I have ever seen. Two girls came to sing for us on our bus up to Otavalo and I wanted to take one home with me. They were completely adorable. It breaks my heart to see little kids on the streets in Quito. There has been a big migration recently of indigenous to the city and many families try to sell odds and ends on the streets. I want to cry when I see a 3 year old trying to sell me gum or flowers. I also have a really hard time saying no to the elderly beggers. They are so arthritic and worn looking that it kills me to see them begging for 10cents. The whole trip is really putting some things into perspective for me.
After Otavalo, we went to the Condor Park. It is a reserve for rescued birds and they had all kinds of amazing birds. We got to see Andean Condors(maybe the ugliest bird ever), a bunch of different owls, a bald eagle and other types, and some falcons. We all got to put on the special glove
and hold an American Kestrel which is a really common tiny bird. I really wanted to hold the bald eagle but that wasn't going to happen. The bald eagle's name was Gringo, which is the traditional slang term for north americans so we all thought that was pretty funny. It was really cool to go there but it made me kind of sad to see the birds in captivity because it is really rare that they will survive if and when they are released but I guess they have a good home for now.
Last night our entire group went out "dancing". I think that we were the best entertainment the Ecuadorians could have possibly asked for.... absolutely ridiculous.
Today we had another day of tours around the region. We went up to a collapsed volcano and got a little info about the caldera and the history of volcanic activity in the region. I was loving it. Volcanoes are awesome.
Then we went to the equator line.. "la mitad del mundo" and hung out for a pretty long time. it was really interesting to learn about the ways the ancient cultures here worshiped the sun and learned to
Chicas en Parque Condor
Mary Elizabeth, Lindsie, Kelly and me with the incredible Andes in the background accurately tell time based on it. They also showed us some cool experiments that reflected how physics is kind of different at the equator than in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres. ex. Water flushes straight down instead of counter/clockwise and also there is a difference in resistance at the equator because of its distance from the center of earth's gravity. Apparently we weigh about 2 lbs less at the equator than anywhere else. We also got to see some shrunken heads that were from pre-conquest tribes. We also took all the typical 'hey I'm both hemispheres' pictures which was more entertaining than it probably seems. haha.
Tomorrow is our first day of class at the University and then we leave for Riobamba, Cotopaxi, and Chimorazo (the highlands) on thursday.
3 weeks until the Galapagos.
chao.
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