It's November! Boy do I miss the falling leaves, the smell of fires in fireplaces, pumpkins on doorsteps, and the beautiful autumn weather. Even though autumn doesn't exist here in any shape or form, a few times this week I did get the feeling that a little bit of the fall might have just found its way down here to Ecuador.
Last Monday I finally made myself go to one of Ambato's famous Monday markets. I don't know what took me so long to go! It was amazing to see all of the indigenous men and women in their beautiful clothing buying all their food for the week. It was really an incredible sight- people, fruits, vegetables, meats, rice, bread, and clothing in every direction in an amazing assortment of colors. Since I only went to the market in the center of town, I will have to work my way up to the HUGE market that's right across the street from my school. From what I've heard, this other market will put the one I visited to shame. We shall see!
On Halloween I convinced Eden, Dan, and Aubrey to go with me to one of my favorite Ambato spots that I've been to so far. We four now have a standing gringo lunch date on Wednesdays, so I took them to a place my host parents took me to in the barrio of Atoche. This little restaurant is outdoors with vines hanging above, and it's known for its empanadas cooked in a huge outdoor oven and the traditional drink of colada morada. This past week was the week of coloada morada in all of Ecuador because it's a custom to drink it on el Día de los Difuntos, or All Soul's Day, on November 2nd. I absolutely love colada morada- it's like a thick juice that is made with all sorts of berries and is served warm. So delicious! So I was happy that the other three seemed to enjoy the colada morada too...and little did we know how much we would have over the next few days!
In class on Wednesday I went all-out with Halloween. I dressed up as a bruja (a witch) all in black and I bought some black lipstick and a witch hat to go with it. My students chipped in some money so that I could 
get them all candy, and I must admit I went a bit overboard. I taught them all about trick-or-treating (and made them do it to get their candy) and we did Halloween puzzles and learned Halloween vocab, listened to the Monster Mash and a scary sounds CD, and even made mummies out of eachother with rolls of toilet paper! Many of my students wore orange and black to class, and some even had costumes. My night class had both a gypsy and a guy in a George Bush mask (see photo). Teacher Dan dressed up too, as a creepy old man no less, and came to join in on the fun as well. I really enjoyed sharing all the Halloween customs with my students, especially seeing them have so much fun with it. Though I really did miss seeing tons of little kids walking around in costumes all throughout the day. I saw one little kid downtown in a Batman costume in the morning, and it put a huge smile on my face!
get them all candy, and I must admit I went a bit overboard. I taught them all about trick-or-treating (and made them do it to get their candy) and we did Halloween puzzles and learned Halloween vocab, listened to the Monster Mash and a scary sounds CD, and even made mummies out of eachother with rolls of toilet paper! Many of my students wore orange and black to class, and some even had costumes. My night class had both a gypsy and a guy in a George Bush mask (see photo). Teacher Dan dressed up too, as a creepy old man no less, and came to join in on the fun as well. I really enjoyed sharing all the Halloween customs with my students, especially seeing them have so much fun with it. Though I really did miss seeing tons of little kids walking around in costumes all throughout the day. I saw one little kid downtown in a Batman costume in the morning, and it put a huge smile on my face!
So Ecuadorians don't really celebrate Halloween, but they sure go all-out for el Día de los Difuntos on November 2nd. Since I don't have classes on Friday, my students decided to celebrate it in class on the 1st. They brought colada morada and guaguas de pan for everyone in the class. Now, guagua (pronounced wawa) is the Quichua word for baby...so we eat baby-shaped pieces of bread. The tradition started a few hundred years ago when a town to the South had a terrible epidemic that killed off hundreds of babies in the town. The town made bread in the shape the babies to honor them on All Soul's Day, and the tradition has continued ever since. So not only did I have bread babies in class, but a student gave me some to take home, and I had them in my own home on Friday! Needless to say, it was a carb-heavy few days. On Friday morning my family took Eden and I to a graveyard in Pelileo to visit my "great-grandmother," as is the tradition on el Día de los Difuntos. Pretty much everyone in Ecuador goes to the cemetery to visit deceased loved ones and they leave flowers and food at their graves. The indigenous men and women actually have a picnic at the grave site, with tons of food and liquor, to honor and remember their loved ones. I was expecting to walk into the cemetery into a very solumn atmosphere, and it was quite the opposite! There were tons of vendors outside of the cemetery selling food, flowers, kids' toys, you name it. As you can see below, not only were there tons of people inside, but they had people playing music, kids were running around- it was really quite a fun affair. Eden pointed out how comforting it must be for Ecuadorians to know that every year their friends and family will come visit them at their graves and have such a celebration. It's definitely a different perspective on death than many of us have in the States, and I was so thankful to be able to witness it all first-hand.
After some more colada morada at home that morning (every family makes a pot of their own), Aubrey, Eden, and I headed 7 hours south to Cuenca! Our friends Annie and Javier from Quito picked us up in Javier's Land Rover and we had quite the road trip together. Not only did we have the amazing scenery of the Andes Mountains for the entire trip, but we also saw the most gorgeous sunset. We even got a a point where we were so far above the clouds and they looked like the ocean below us. And Cuenca is such a breath-taking city. It definit
ely has a European feel with its cobblestone streets and old, Colonial buildings. The whole city, actually, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (shout out to the Rotunda at UVa!). We met up with about 25-30 of our fellow volunteers in Cuenca for it's independence day festivities, and I think everyone just fell in love with the city. I will definitely be going back a few times! It is just so clean and picturesque, with a beautiful river running through the city as well. We went to some artisan markets, watched a military parade, went to a concert on Saturday night, and just spent a lot of time walking around and taking in the city. It was especially great to spend time with the other volunteers and to share our experiences of teaching and and living in Ecuador thus far. On Sunday morning we all had a HUGE homemade American breakfast together...and I had forgotten how great breakfast can be! My time with the other volunteers in gorgeous Cuenca definitely recharged my batteries for the week ahead.
ely has a European feel with its cobblestone streets and old, Colonial buildings. The whole city, actually, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (shout out to the Rotunda at UVa!). We met up with about 25-30 of our fellow volunteers in Cuenca for it's independence day festivities, and I think everyone just fell in love with the city. I will definitely be going back a few times! It is just so clean and picturesque, with a beautiful river running through the city as well. We went to some artisan markets, watched a military parade, went to a concert on Saturday night, and just spent a lot of time walking around and taking in the city. It was especially great to spend time with the other volunteers and to share our experiences of teaching and and living in Ecuador thus far. On Sunday morning we all had a HUGE homemade American breakfast together...and I had forgotten how great breakfast can be! My time with the other volunteers in gorgeous Cuenca definitely recharged my batteries for the week ahead.
Now, probably the most entertaining part of the week (actually it wins hands down) was our trip back from Cuenca to Ambato. The five of us were supposed to leave around 11am so that we would get back to Ambato early in the evening. Well, the woman who owns the garage that Javier parked his car in decided to up and leave on Sunday morning with no warning. Apparently no one in Cuenca, including the hotel that uses the garage, has a copy of the garage key!! Oh Ecuador, you and your many surprises. Besides being really frustrated, we all couldn't help but laugh when considering our crazy luck. While the others decided to wait for the woman to return (6pm was their earliest guess), we Ambato ladies rushed to the bus terminal and caught a bus that was pulling out of the station as we arrived. Since the bus was full, though, we had to ride up front in a separate compartment with the driver and his attendant, and various other passengers along the way. I can't even begin to describe what a funny experience it was! We were playing salsa music and everyone was sharing food- it was like one great big bus party traveling through the Andes. We even had our own little jobs- I pressed some buttons on the dashboard, Aubrey got stuck with door duty a couple times, and Eden even got behind the wheel at one point (when the bus was stopped) and the driver let her honk the horn while we were driving. We even got a discount because the attendant said we were buena gente, or good people. So besides the terribly uncomfortable seating arrangments (my rear is still a bit soar), it was definitely a fun trip and an experience I won't soon forget.
It's time for me to head to class now, but I hope you all have a wonderful week! And a very very happy birthday to Kara on Wednesday...congrats on the big 23!! I'll hunt down a piece of cake
to have in your honor tomorrow. I hope it's a great birthday for you! Love you all and I'll be in touch soon again. xoxo
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