Otavalo

Last weekend I went to a town called Otavalo with 3 other people from the school - Kim, Stephen, and Dan.  Otavalo is about 2 hours away by bus from Quito.  We left at 7am on Saturday morning, which was pretty tough since most of us went out the night before.  Every Saturday, Otavalo has a huge market.  The indigenous people of the town sell all sorts of things like scarfs, ponchos, bracelets, jewelry, blankets, purses, etc.  There was also a food market that sold fruits and vegetables.  There is also an animal market on Saturdays but we missed that.

    

      

After the market we did a hike to La Cascada Peguche, or the Peguche Falls.  It was excellent, as most waterfalls are.  Who doesn´t like waterfalls?

 

Then about 20 minutes away is Lake Cuicocha, a crater lake.  We had heard about a hostal that was right on the lake, Hostal Mirador.   We had to do a little hike up to the hostal, but it was well worth it.  They had the best view.  And the rooms even had a fireplace.  We only paid $12 for the night.  The hostal had a restaurant too that had excellent food.  The next day, on Sunday,  we did the hike around the lake.  It took us 5 hours, and it was not easy.  But it was fun and it was definitely good to get some exercise with all the eating I´ve been doing in Ecuador.  It was pretty foggy at the beginning of our hike and we couldn´t see a thing.  But it finally cleared up and it was beautiful.  It was a great weekend.

          

Hello from Quito

Hey Everyone! I´m here in Quito, Ecuador. So far everything has been good. I had set up Spanish classes with a place called Yanapuma (www.yanapumaspanish.org). I picked it because it is a non-profit organization and the proceeds go to their foundation. I figured it was run by some good people, and I was right. They arranged to pick me up at the airport and take me to the host family I will be staying with.

The host family is very nice. It is with a lady named Lorena that has 2 high school aged kids and a two year old nephew named Issac. He´s so cute. The first thing he did when I got here was dump all his toys on my bed. Today, Lorena asked if I was his girlfriend and he said yes. Sorry, Andy. I have an Ecuadorian 2 year old boyfriend here. I walked with Issac to school this morning on the way to my school, and he cried when I didn´t go inside the school with him. Awww. Meals are also included with the home stay also. Lorena is an excellent cook. The home stay, with meals, and laundry costs $15 per day.

So far Spanish classes are going well. The school is about a 20 minute walk from my host family, in the center of town. The first day my teacher was late because his mother was in the hospital. Today was the second day. And all I can say is, I need a lot of work. Its a little frustrating, but I´m sure will get easier with practice. The classes cost about $7 per hour for a one on one class. We´ve been going over basics which I definitely needed. Its crazy how much Spanish you forget from high school.

I´ve walked around a bit in the center, the Mariscal, and a bit in Old Quito. I met another student that took me around. He is from Texas and has been here for a few months. I´ve taken a few pictures, but not many yet. Here is a few

Mariscal Sucre


Old Quito