Quito y Otavalo

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Hola! I´m back in Quito after a few days. our first full day in Quito we woke up and did morning movement on the roof of the hostel with a beautiful view of all of Quito and the Andes. After that we went to breakfast and then broke into groups. Quito is an extremely dangerous city, so we need to travel in groups of at least 3 with at least 1 guy and we have to take a cab everywhere after dark. so maya, sean and i were in a group and they let us go explore the city from 12 to 5. we had a few things we needed to do like make copies of our passports, find out information about the bus to Otavalo, buy books for kids, etc. it was a noncompetitive scavenger hunt, so we just chilled out and wandered. we found a map and were trying to figure out where we were, so Sean asked some random guy who was passing by. his name was David, and he´s a 23 year old student in Quito who is studying to be an environmentalist of sorts. he walked us to the Trole, where we got on. it was so crowded and is infamousfor pickpocketing. however, it was only 25 cents. the american dollar is used in ecuador, but everything is super cheap. so we were planning on going to El Centro, but we decided to get off at a random stop instead. we found ourselves in El Centro! Sean bought me and maya lunch (it was $4.50 for the three of us for sopa de pollo, seca de polly, y jugo de melon...chicken soup, a chicken dish, and cantaloupe juice). then we schlepped around for a while. we spoke spanish, went into a lot of shops, and each bought a shirt. we went to the Quito Basilica Iglesia (the quito basilica church) and took pictures. then it started thundering, so we got a cab and drove back to the hostel. then we went out to dinner at a good mexican restaurant and went to bed.
Yesterday we got up at 6 30 and left the hostel at 7 with all our belongings. as AMAZING as this hostel is (our 3 person room has a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom with shower) the room where we would have stored our belongings was wicked sketch. so we took taxis to the bus station and went in. it was SO SKETCHY. we were a group of 22 gringos (americans) with big backpacks. some security guards approached us and told us how unsafe we were in the station. we all clumped together around one bench while 4 or 5 security guards stood around us and guarded us. it was wicked intense. finally we got on a bus and drove 3 hours to otavalo. the drive was through the andes and it was GORGEOUS. we got to otavalo and stayed at the Hostel de San Luis 2 blocks from the market. we settled in, and the rooms were not too accomodating. 5 girls stayed in a room with 3 single beds and a bathroom attached so we had that smell the whole night. but it was still fun. we talked and then people either went to see a condor show or explored otavalo. me, maya, hannah, max, and kyle chose to explore the city. otavalo is the most prosperous indigenous city in South America and is famous for its market. all of the locals were wearing indigenous clothing and there were stray dogs EVERYWHERE. we found a fruit market with other stuff and walked around that for a while. then we went into shops and such. finally we found the market. it was so beautiful and colorful and amazing. everyone was extremely friendly and great. max and kyle had to physically stop me and maya from buying more things because we were going nuts. after the market, we went to a pastry shop and tried a tres leche (3 milk) dessert thing. it was so good. then we went back to the hostel, regrouped, and went to dinner. it was me, maya, yuri, max, kyle, and taylor. yuri had bought an outrageous white poncho that he was wearing everywhere and he called himself the indigenous gringo. we ate dinner at a restaurant looking over the market, and although the food was terrible, the view was gorgeous. then on the way back there were some sketchy guys following us, so i walked up front with taylor while max stayed with maya. but whatevs. that´s why we have guys with us! then we did movement on the roof of the hostel and went to bed. today we woke up and went to breakfast. it was tasty. i had bread, eggs, coffee, and ham. the eggs and coffee were muy delicioso. then we went to the market. i haggled! i bought an alpaca sweatshirt for $8...orginally 10. i also bought a lot of gifts for people. i bargained for EVERYTHING. my proudest moment was when i found a beautiful journal with a sun and moon on the front. i asked the guy ¿Quanto cuesta? and he said it was $22. i said $8. we evened it out at $13. i bargained $9 off of it. it was pretty sweet. then we went on another bus ride and are back in Quito! tomorrow my group of 10 (Quilla) is going to Bahia and Rio Muchacho, where we will be volunteering on an organic farm and taking spanish classes for 4 hours a day. i won´t have internet, so this is my last entry for a while. fortunately, i have pictures for you. unfortunately, this computer is stupid and won´t let me put pictures on it. so i´ll try to get them up befre i leave tomorrow.
Hasta luego!
Kate

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Comments

[Jackie]

HIIIIIII
idk if you're getting any of my private messages. i miss you tonssssssssssssssssssssssss! p.s. we had yale this weekend. i broke to semis in DI!!!!!! yaaaaay lifeeee!! im glad to see youre doing well. i heart you.

[Ali]

I miss you and I'm soo intrigued
Hey Kate! I was just reading this and I'm so happy for you.. this sounds like such an amazing time and I wish you the best!