HOW am I going to get this all home??

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As I ponder the eternal question of all travelers, I wonder how I always mange to get myself into these situations. But really, how could I resist? And most of my purchases were for other people.....
Well, obviously, we made it to Otavalo, a daily market in the Imbabura Province where at about 70% of the people are of the Native Imbabura "Indians." And this area is a rare example of the native population managing to do quite well economically. Each village has their own special handy craft and besides selling to tourists they also ship their goods around the world AND make money at it. (Not a LOT of money, but money none the less). We were feeling pretty special since we had both a driver and a guide. Our guide, Sixto, was born in Otavalo, so he had the inside track on how to bargin (it is an expect tradition and an art here). He was also VERY interested and well versed in geology, so for the majority of the 2 1/2 hour ride (one-way) we got an in depth review of tectonics and volcano eruptions (of which there was one Sunday night, which caused some planes to return to their starting points rather than land here.......hmmmmm). Shopping was fun, but exhausting and not terribly photo friendly, so I´m cutting this short. Tomorrow we transer to the Hilton Colon in the "New Town" area. And, oh yeah, I don´t think I mentioned the nuns at the convent down the street - on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they sell a treat of hollowed out lemons (tiny green ones) filled with a sweet cream. They sell them to you through some sort of rotating contraption so that you never see them. We are going to try to get some before they run out. AND, Sharon arranged with Jorge (the first) to take us up the Teleferiqo (sp?), a lift type thing to the top of one of the mountains, all of this before we change hotels......

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