-On Sunday, March 16th I went to an indigenous wedding with my student, Zoila
. She dressed me in her beautiful indigenous clothing- a white flowery blouse, a black skirt with a knit belt, two shawls, and a gold necklace. Then we headed to the church, which happened to be on Palm Sunday, so it was standing room only. It was also a group wedding, so there were a few couples getting married. The brides weren't wearing white, but instead they matched the grooms with gorgeous brightly colored clothing, including hats and shawls with ribbons all around them. Then we spent the rest of the morning party hopping because the whole wedding party dances in the street until they walk to both the bride and then the groom's homes. I have never seen so many people drinking mid-day before in my life (well, that might be a slight exaggeration).-My class had a party after their final exam on St. Paddy's Day. I was decked out in a green shirt, shamrock earrings, a Kiss Me I'm Irish button, and a light-up shamrock necklace that I had brought from the States. We learned about the traditions of St. Patrick's Day and then I Irish danced for them! Then we topped it all off with lots of nachos and other snack foods. Quite an interesting cross-cultural experience!
-That night I went up to Quito so that I could meet Dad and Anna the next morning. It was wonderful seeing familiar faces from home! After leading an orientation session for the new volunteers on Community Involvement, Dad, Anna, and I headed back to Ambato for my students' last day of class. For their final projects of the semester they prepared "Welcome to Ecuador" presentations for Dad and Anna, everything from topics like food and geography to mock interviews with famous Ecuadorians. They went all out! Zoila brought in her children to demonstrate formal indigenous dress and then Marco brought children from his high school who were dressed as Ecuadorian presidents from the past, and they presented on their lives. I think Dad and Anna were quite impressed by their efforts, and I sure was as well! It was a great way to end Basic 2...and now we're on to Intermediate 1!
-On Wednesday, we visited the school I volunteer with in Pillaro, and then we headed straight to Lake Quilotoa. After a visit there, we took a crazy-bumpy truck ride to Chugchilan where we stayed at my favorite Ecua hostel, the Black Sheep Inn (where I stayed with Eden and Aubrey in January). It was just so great to relax for a few days in the Andes mountains, eat delicious food, and chat with travelers from around the world. I even went horse-back riding with two sisters that I met from NYC, and we had such a nice time riding through the mountains and the cloud forest...the views were incredible!
-We returned back to Ambato on Friday afternoon for the traditional Good Friday meal of fanesca with my host family. Basically every family in Ecuador eats this meal once a year- it consists of 12 grains and fish, and it has the consistency of a stew. It was pretty good, but needless to say I was stuffed afterward. Then we met up with Aubrey and headed to the town of Otavalo in the northern highlands.
-Saturday morning we went to the Otavalo market, which is the largest market in all of South America. Basically the entire town is covered in vendor stalls- everything from fruit and meats to clothing, handicrafts, art, and jewelry. We shopped 'til we dropped! After hours of walking around and bartering, we all came out of the experience with some great purchases. Among other things, I got a hammock and some beautiful frames to put on my wall when I get back to the States, Aubrey got an alpaca sweater and a gorgeous painting, Anna got a very pretty tablecloth, and Dad got a bunch of souvenirs for people back home. Then we headed to a Colonial hacienda for the night. It is called Hacienda Guachala and it is the oldest working hacienda, or plantation, in Ecuador. Aubrey and I explored the grounds, which were really beautiful and had a lot of character- especially the church. We climbed to the top of the bell tower and could look out over the cobblestone courtyard, the horse pasture, and we could see the mountains in the distance as well.
-Easter morning Aubrey and I opened our Easter baskets with tasty treats from the States and then we all went horse-back riding to the Equator. Though this is the third Equator tourist site I have visited, the guide insisted this is the only one that is actually at 0 degrees latitude, so who knows! A person weighs the least while on the Equator, because of the change in the gravitational pull on the Equator's bulge, so I surely savored that fact while I was there. In the distance we could also see the Cayambe Volcano, which is the highest point the Equator crosses in the entire world. Then we headed back to the hacienda, and went to Quito for the night.
-Monday morning, Dad, Anna, and I headed to Mindo, a town in the cloud forests of Ecuador. It is also one of the bird-watching capitals of the world, so we were excited to see sm
all toucans flying in the wild. We took a hike, saw some incredible views of the cloud forest and surrounding valleys, and then spent the afternoon relaxing in the hot tub. On Tuesday we took a tarabita, or cable car, to another mountain which has seven waterfalls. I went to the first waterfall with Dad and Anna, but then I had to leave them early to catch my bus to the coast. The last time I saw them was from the cable car, and they were waving down below. I really loved being able to share Ecuador with them, and I think they enjoyed the experience as well! And I guess I should also take a minute to say congrats because the cat is out of the bag, and there will be a wedding in late August. Felicidades!-Since I left Mindo on Tuesday morning, I have been busy spending my time relaxing at the beach. I know it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. I met up with two fellow
volunteers, Annie and Ava, who are taking a tour of the coast, starting from the north and working their way down. So we spent the first few days in Canoa, which was a gorgeous beach with cliffs in the background. Then we were to the port town of Puerto Lopez on Thursday afternoon. We took a tour of the Isla de Plata, or Silver Island, on Friday, which required an hour and a half boat ride in the Pacific each way from the mainland. Along the way we saw dead hammer-head sharks on the beach (see the photo with me, Ava, and Annie), live sharks in the water, and blue-footed boobies! We even got to go snorkeling off the island and I saw the most brightly-colored fish I have ever seen.
-Our friend Mark came to meet us on Saturday morning and we went to the Machalilla National Park, and hiked to various virgin beaches, free from vendors and crowds. It was so wonderful! So we explored the rocky cliffs, swam in the ocean, and did lots of reading and chatting on the beach. It was a nice combination of beautiful scenery and good friends, so a great experience overall.
-Then we headed to Montañita, Ecuador's most famous surfer town. This is actually my third time here! Montañita has a great, chill vibe. Everyone is just here to relax and surf, so it's a much needed break from chilly, polluted Ambato. We were also joined by some other friends, so it was a really fun weekend! The highlights included dancing on Saturday night and all the wonderful seafood dishes I have been trying, especially the "encocado," or coconut shrimp dish I had last night. Also, Mark took me to this amazing church he knew about yesterday- it sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and it is completely open to the ocean breeze. If I lived here I would be at church every Sunday without a doubt! It also has a statue of Mary that apparently wept blood in 1990, so that was really interesting to see, with remaining blood stains and all. She is called Maria Rosa Mistica, so I will have to read up some more on her.
So as for now, the plan is to stay here in Monañita until tomorrow, then we are all heading to visit Mark's house on the beach in La Libertad. From there Annie and Ava are heading home, and I'll be heading to Guayaquil to visit some other volunteers, and then to the towns of Loja and Vilcabamba in the south. I have really been loving my tour of Ecuador during this vacation, and I'm happy that I will have gotten to see so much of it before I head back to the States in July. It will definitely be hard going back to work next Monday though! But then again, I will be so excited to see my students again and to get started on my third and final semester here in Ecuador. Crazy to imagine! Well, I better get back to the sunshine, but I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and that spring weather is off to a good start back home. Miss you!
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