Otavalo, Ecuador

Okay, I don't even know where to start with this post but it's going to be a long one so I hope that you all are patient (or bored) enough to read through it all; I promise, I'll make it worth it.

I don't even remember what I posted last time, so let me just start here.

I successfully completed my first FULL week (by full week, I mean two days worth..) of classes at USFQ!  What an experience.  All of my classes are in Spanish, but I think I will be able to do well in every single one of them.  I really enjoy all of my teachers at the university. Lídice is the coolest--she's from Cuba and I LOVE listening to her speak Spanish, it's just perfect.  The other two professors that I have (I have Lídice for two courses) are great too, but not as relaxed.  

AFTER CLASSES ENDED THIS WEEK:

I had my last day of courses on Thursday.  Thursday was pretty rough, to be honest.  I was exhausted (speaking Spanish all day, every day isn't exactly easy) and tired and just wanted to crawl into bed while my mom held me.  Nothing seemed to be going my way except for what I had for lunch and well...actually, yeah, that's all.  The Ecovía was PACKED when I left classes. I actually had to launch myself forward and through a crowd of people in order to get out of the doors.  The only decent part of Oklahoma is that public transportation is NOT a must.  Nonetheless, Thursday was my last day with my favorite American prof that I've met, Ariel.  I am so sad that she's left already, but she definitely helped me with my first week here--she's a Spanish professor who was doing homestay for a month during her winter-mester in Ecuador.  Lunch wasn't actually the only thing that went well on Thursday, Mama Gladys made a lemon cake and gave me some at dinner (MY FAVE!!!).

This blog post is already inappropriately long.  Bear with me.

FRIDAY FINALLY CAME THOUGH!  Wow, Friday.  

I woke up late, go figure after having close to 6 hours worth of classes on Thursday.  But I was able to pack my things up, get into a taxi with Laura, pick up Rose, and head to the bus station where we would begin our Otavalo adventure.  Nervous is an understatement; the station was packed but bus tickets run around only $2.  Once we were on our way, everything seemed to be going okay.  Then we actually arrived in Otavalo...the bus stop was a hectic mess, only for us to get into a taxi that didn't know where we were actually going.  ALAS!  We made it to our destination.  Cabañas del Balcón del Lago.  This is the name of the hostel we stayed at, where there were little cabins built by the family who runs the hostel, in the middle of the Cachimuel indigenous community, on top of a mountain.  Yeah, quite the trek.  Nonetheless, we ended up LOVING our cabin but did not expect it to be so cold on the first night.  We bundled up in pullovers and leggings because it was pouring rain outside, so they couldn't light the chiminea.  Jessica, the wonderful lady who runs the hostel, made us dinner before we turned in for the night.

Then Saturday.  Wow, Saturday.  

We rolled out of bed, got bundled up, and headed to the main cabin for breakfast.  Jessica once again, had a breakfast prepared for us before we left for the market in Otavalo.  A friend of hers came and got us to take us to the market, where we started our day around 9 AM.  Surprisingly, it wasn't even busy.  I got a number of new things to take home with me, mostly consisting of things that have alpaca fur but also gifts for the fam.  Following the market, we struggled around downtown Otavalo to find somewhere to eat.  Most restaurants here don't open until WAY late--as in 12:30 but it was probably 11:15 and we were starving.  We finally got into a cab and asked the driver to take us anywhere that he would recommend for lunch; we ended up at Inty Huasi--the food was delicious and the people were super friendly, plus a giant Pilsener for less than $2.  Talk about a bargain.  Following lunch, we wandered around to try to find the Shenandoah Pie Shop (literally in English).  TALK ABOUT AMAZING!  I recommend the mora pie.  With chocolate ice cream.  After trying to put ourselves into a food coma, we returned to the cabins to take a nice little break and unload all of our things from the market.  We took a very long break, so we ended up having to walk to the bottom of the mountain to catch a taxi--which is fine, but cobblestone is hard.  I'll just throw that out there.  We finally were able to catch a taxi from the middle of the highway to head to la Cascada de Peguche--an infamous waterfall in Otavalo.  It was beautiful!  There was a thermal spring and a rope bridge too, which rocked.  Afterwards, a taxi picked us up and took us back.  Let me tell you, sometimes the language here can be a little scary.  We were still in a smaller indigenous community close to the falls when the car in front of us stopped in the middle of the road; the car on the opposite side of the road (by road, I mean very VERY uneven cobblestone) stopped as well, only for a passenger from the car in front of us to hand the other car's driver A BEER.  While she was driving; when we asked our driver what was going on, he said "son las dueñas de la cartel".  You know how scary that is for an American!?  We figured out, after asking, that basically there are just a lot of troublemakers in those small communities because of the lack of police.  Nonetheless, he told them he was calling the cops and we got out FAST.  We returned to the cabin, I took a nap, and then we went and ate more dinner.  After dinner (prepared by Jessica's 13 year old son, Sebastian) Jessica had returned from her long day with her husband and they sat down to chat for a while.  It hadn't rained much at all that afternoon or night, so they decided to light the chiminea for us.  The five of us packed into our cabin while Jessica's husband prepared the fire.  After he had the fire going, he began telling us stories and history of the indigenous community, Otavalo, and even about how pure the water is at the top of the mountain, in the waterfalls.  He also told us a story about a hidden paradise and about a man by the name of Pedro Villamar, who we would later figure out lived VERY close to them.  It felt so homey that I actually teared up for a bit; it's pretty cool to be introduce to a new culture like that.  After they left, we packed up our things to prepare for this morning and went to bed, happy to actually be warm.

SUNDAY!  Lolz, talk about crazy.

We were woken up by a banging on the door.  By banging, I mean we thought that either we had slept in way too late or that our cabin had caught fire from the chiminea.  I actually thought I was dreaming, but when I heard Rose open up the door, I knew something wasn't right.  There was a very small woman at our door without shoes on, trying to talk to Rose.  We figured out that we had seen her herding sheep and cows the day before, so Laura and I stayed in bed while Rose attempted to talk to her.  Well, her voice only got louder as Rose tried to explain "NO ENTIENDO" multiple times.  The poor woman was Cachimuel and was speaking in Quichua, their native language.  Although a little rattled, we went back to sleep and were fine.  Just a weird accident.  Jessica prepared breakfast for us and we got another early start; her and her husband's son took us all the way to el Parque del Cóndor where we watched a show of all the rescued birds, including a bald eagle and enjoyed some ice cream.  Following that, we went to El Lechero, a tree that seems similar to the lonely tree you see in the Lion King, took our pictures, and left.  We thought we were headed back up to the cabins, only for Jessica to take us to the studio of Pedro Villamar.  After looking through a number of his BEAUTIFUL paintings, we figured out that the botanical garden that Jessica's husband had described the night before was RIGHT in his backyard.  Here, I actually got to try fresh maracuya and fresh taxo.  I provided links to pictures because we don't have these wonderful things in America.  I enjoyed Señor Villamar's humor and insane amount of hospitality as he showed us around his humble abode.  Sad to leave, we headed back up, packed our bags, and hitched a ride back to the bus station.

So needless to say, the weekend was eventful and I almost cried leaving Jessica and her family today. It was a beautiful experience and I have taken so much away from it.  Even my host mom told me today at dinner that she was happy to see me with so much confidence in my language skills and improving so quickly with my Spanish!  What a wonderful surprise.  When people tell you that you learn ~soooo much~ in a new country, they aren't always exaggerating.  But roughing it and living in a literal cabin in the middle of nowhere with a local family for a few days?  That's the priceless kind of thing you get from being abroad.

Nonetheless, my friends and I will probably take it easy this weekend and do something here in Quito.  Obviously, I'll keep y'all updated but hang tight for the next adventure.

Peace and blessings and enjoy the pictures!  I promise there will be more up on Facebook, very soon.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

-Saint Augustine

Wednesday.

Today is Wednesday and although it has been productive, it has been pretty boring.  However, traveling on a Wednesday is pretty much impossible because of classes--even though I have class on Tuesday and Thursday, Wednesday I have decided to set aside as a day for homework.  I have a lot of reading to do along with other assignments.

Ah, I didn't even mention that I started classes yesterday!  My teachers are really great and the school is the most relaxed place that I have ever been.  The buildings feel a little like high school because I am back go being in normal classrooms, not lecture halls that are meant to fit nearly 300 students every class period.  Someone told me there are around 7,000 students total at my university.  That's practically one undergrad class at OU, but it's cool.  All of my classes are taught in Spanish, so at the end of the day and being in class for over five hours, my brain is practically mush.  I took public transportation yesterday with a new friend I made that lives down the street from me; she's an exchange student from Virginia Tech!  Taking public transportation with a friend is a lot less scary than taking it alone.  In the mornings, the buses are overpopulated and the traffic is low key SCARY.  The afternoons aren't so bad to take the bus and I took the bus home with another new friend I made from class.  I feel like a freshman again.

Speaking of feeling like a freshman, I luckily made a friend named Rose from Michigan State who I have my first 3 of 4 classes with on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She rocks, along with Laura from Virginia Tech.  They're going adventuring with me this weekend and I'm so pumped.

On another note, working against the typical chronological order of my posts, I went to a birthday party for my host sister in Cumbayá on Saturday.  Ecuadoreans sure do know how to party.  It was 80's themed and so cute, with over 80 people packed into a small downstairs area of a condo where EVERYONE was dancing.  Although it was supposed to begin at 8, people began arriving around 9:30 and it went on until 4 in the morning!  I took a cab home around 12:30 because I was completely wiped out, but my host mom didn't return home until around 4.  It was a blast, but I definitely couldn't keep up with the dancing and drinking and carrying on--for the first time in my life, I felt old.  

The day before, I went to Centro Histórico with Grace and it was a blast.  We explored, ate new foods, wandered around the Plaza, and hiked to the top of the spire in la Basílica del Voto Nacional.  Afterwards, we went and ate some sort of pancake-like food that had eggs in it with a mora (blackberry) sort of topping.  Talk about delicious.  Afterwards, we tried finding a cab to bring us back and ended up getting poured on.  Followed by hail.  So as you can tell, I am nothing short of Oklahoma weather here.

It's warm during the days, unless it's clouded over or raining.  At night, it gets chilly and a jacket is necessary.  I've been to the mall Quicentro at least five times just to get miscellaneous things, including an ice cream cone from Crepes & Waffles...on multiple occasions.  The weirdest things here are expensive, others cheap.  Clothes are not among the cheap and Burts Bees hand lotion runs around $22 a bottle.  I guess paying the $100 overweight fee for my toiletries wasn't such a bad idea.

Among the many things that have happened in my first 8 days in Quito?

I've been hailed on. Twice.

I've eaten pizza...and liked it. (For anyone who knows me, THIS IS BIG)

I attended an Ecuadorean birthday party and learned that even the men here absolutely love to dance.

I've gotten lost on the Ecovía, which is the public transit bus.  Just when I thought public transit couldn't get more confusing than the MetroBus in D.C...life got me again.

I've been to MEGAMAXI!  These are comparable to a Super Target or Sam's Club.

I've been called a gringita on multiple occasions, most of the time by someone on the street that I don't even know.

Finally, I have suffered the side effects from altitude sickness.  From migraines, to exhaustion, and the feeling of not being able to catch my breath...even when I'm just sitting down and minding my own business.

Despite my many new challenges, learning the Spanish hasn't been hard but getting used to "Ecuadorean time" is definitely a change.  By that, I mean if you make plans to go somewhere at 1, I hope you're okay with going around 3.  It's just how things are here.  

That's about all I have time for because of the amount of homework I have, but hopefully there will be another post up this weekend about my trip to Otavalo!  I'll leave y'all with some pictures to entertain you.

Suerte.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

-Albert Einstein

  

Bienvenidos a Ecuador!

BIENVENIDOS A ECUADOR!

Where the bus/metro system is crazier than Washington, D.C. and you can't put toilet paper down 99.9% of the toilets.  Don't carry your iPhone in plain sight and you should expect to eat lots of fresh fruit, drink plenty of fruit juices, and consume a diet that consists solely of soup and rice with the occasional meat (usually pork, which I love anyway).

Yes people, I am learning to try new things and eat better so be proud.

My host family is so cool.  My host mom is older and has two daughters in their late twenties; one of them has kids and the other has been helping me a ton with my Spanish so I couldn't be happier where I am.  My most mom only speaks Spanish, with a LITTTTTLE bit of English so I am being fully immersed--nonetheless, it's been great but kind of tough.  I'm slowly realizing that trying to speak Spanish has been comparable to test-taking.  You know, where you study all week and know every inch of the test  but then you get to the test and open up the test booklet and all you can think is "HOLY SHIT"...yeah, that's me.  I live in the middle of Quito where there is lots of city traffic and the sun shines in my room at six AM, but the mall (Quicentro) and MegaMaxi (like Sam's or Costco) are both super close.  The sun shining in my window hasn't been bad because it will force me to get up on a schedule.  When I look out my window in the mornings, I see a super busy street with lots of street vendors & people wandering around & mountains.  I have never lived anywhere where you can see mountains, so it's pretty cool.

Side note: someone from back home told me yesterday that I am "as subtle as a shotgun", so there's that.  I suppose subtlety has never been my strong suit, but I try.

Anyways, we had orientation today and I LOVE USFQ already.  Oh my gosh, Cumbaya, the town that USFQ is in, is beautiful.  Everyone dresses pretty decent to class so that will be an adjustment, but that's fine too.  Learning to ride the buses was the hardest thing I've done so far and many people only carry change.  By change, I mean quarters or less--cash is inconvenient and a rarity here.  This morning, I had my first ever papaya and first fresh mango.  It was wonderful.

Other than that, I have been adjusting to the altitude, which isn't as easy as you think.  You're constantly out of breath and I've been getting headaches like crazy, but luckily I have not been nauseous.  My host mom cooks every day--breakfast, lunch, and dinner and it rocks.  Last night, we stopped by a street vendor and bought Colombian arepas.  Seriously y'all, that's the best thing that I have ever tried.  It's comparable to a corn tortilla, except it's thick like Texas toast.  It's smothered in butter and the corn tortilla part is also mixed with a little bit of cheese.  Talk about heaven in a snack! Ay dios mio.  Anyway, I haven't done much sightseeing but I think I am off to start an adventure tomorrow.  I only have classes scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday so that will leave a lot of room for exploring and whatnot.  

To those of you who have reached out to me since I've been here, thanks a ton!  It's appreciated.  Being in a foreign country where there is even just a very small language barrier is super tough, but I'm loving it so far.  

I know most of you don't check Facebook, so I'll attach a few pictures from my trip onto here for now!  I should have some more interesting stuff to add as the trip continues; I think we are going to explore Old Town Quito tomorrow!  

Good night & good luck to all.

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

-Confucius