Ecuador- las primeras impresiónes

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The employees at the immigration desk were welcoming me warmly. Then I went further to the baggage claim and was waiting tired and excited for my backpack. But it didn't came. So I went to a desk especially for complaints about baggage which didn't arrive. There were already around 10 other people standing cause their baggage didn't arrive as well. Hours later, as it was finally my turn they confirmed me that my backpack got lost somewhere and they would send it after. I should come the next day again to pick it up... I just thought to myself: Bienvenida en Sur-america!

At least I could bank on the two volunteers who were picking me up at the airport and bringing me to the voluntary apartement in Otavalo. It took us two hours by bus to go there. Ecuador is different than Venezuela. I realised that as we were driving this two hours trough the ecuadorian landscape. In my eyes Ecuador is much cleaner and not so desorgansied like Venezuela. The first day I was walking through the city I was asking myself if they really need the help of volunteers here. It seems well established here, with wonderful parks and churches what you barely find in Venezuela. I was surprised because I didn't really expect that. But it all looks wonderful. And I love the appearance of the indigenous people. They're all wearing the traditional clothes and long braided hair and hats. The women are always carrying anything on their back, if it is their kid ore something they sell on the market. It looks awesome.

Otavalo is famous for its market. In one place they sell a lot of fruits and vegetables, in an other all those alpacca stuff, bags, hamocks and loads of handmade jewellery and then there's also the animal market. To the last I mentioned we went once on a saturday at six o'clock in the morning. People go there with their cows, pigs, sheep, dogs, chicken ore guinea pigs and sell them for little money. It was quiet a mess and all the animal were screaming in confusion, especially the pics.. For me it was a bit hard to see how the animals were treaten. It feels like people here see more the benefit in an animal than special connection to them, wich is actually not wrong in any way. In one corner of the market they sold food like rice, potatoes and beans with meat. And they eat everything of the meat here, really everything, not like we're used to it. I could not at all comprehend how you can eat something like that at six o'clock in the morning.

I prefere the fruit and vegetable market to the animal market. You can find there thousand of different things for so little money. Half of the fruits they sell I've never seen before and I love testing everything. Once we cooked lenses with different vegetables for around 5 persons for dinner and we only paid like 1.50 dollars in total. As well if you eat out, you barely pay more than five dollars in total. For us live is really cheap here.

What more can I already tell? People here are really friendly and openminded. It's easy to make new contacts in the street, cause they're interested in you. But I realised that there's a difference between how they react on you here and in Venezuela. Here they're already used to tourists and don't stare at you so much ore try to touch you. Unless you are in a smaller village. Moreover they are more shy and decent than people in Venezuela. They also have their curtains closed every hour a day, so you'd never see in a house here. This was not at all the case in Venezuela. People were much more extrovated there. Here I guess they like to have their privacy here.

Funny is how you get everything in small plastic bags here. If it is the meal you eat for lunch, like for example potatoes with meat, ore if it is fresh milk from the market, ore fruits ore bread. You always see people walking around carrying a small plasticbag and eating anything out of it. Imagine people in Switzerland would walk around eating their spaghetti for lunch out of a plasicbag... 😊

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