Good morning from Ecuador!
I have officially been in Ecuador 1 whole week, and I have absolutely loved it! I have tried A LOT of new fruit and food, begun learning my way around Ceci's neighborhood, and learned a lot about what to and not to do when interacting with an Ecuadorian.
We had a three day weekend this past weekend, and were able to use our time well by exploring Historic Quito, the Indigenous market at Otavalo, the lake of San Pablo, and the City at the Middle of the World! Here's a little bit about our adventures - I hope you enjoy it! :)
Friday - 26/5/17
This past Friday was a holiday in Ecuador as it was the celebration of the Battle of Pichincha (which actually took place on May 24th, 1882). Pinchincha is a volcano near Quito, and is the site where the battle for Quito's independence was fought. Hence, the need to celebrate each year! Most offices and businesses were closed, so Ceci and I headed to Quito Colonial for some sightseeing. One thing that I learned very quickly during my first week in Quito is that you can take a bus or trolley anywhere, as long as you know where you're going. The buses cost around $0.25 and go all over the place, while the trolley's cost about the same and only go north and south (I think ...). However, they both carry a lot of people, probably way more than comfort, and can cause you to question how much space a person genuinely needs.
We took a trolley to Historic Quito, and once there were able to see a small parade of all the local police forces, watch youth protest (what I am not completely sure), and visit the many sites including a very famous plaza, a couple of beautiful churches, and the many street vendors selling everything from fruit and ice cream to drain strainers for your kitchen sink (crazy, right?!). After visiting Historic Quito, we ventured about 30 minutes out of Quito to have lunch with Ceci's family who was incredibly welcoming and sympathetic to my less than great Spanish.
Favorite memories:
- Taking my first (of many) tourist pictures with the statue commemorating Ecuadorian independence at the Plaza de Independencia and taking another with a quote from Ecuadorian author, Pablo Palacio (No, not Pablo Picasso, Mom)
- Visting the Iglesia de San Francisco and watching children (and Ceci) play with the pigeons out front
- Buying my first mangos verdes con sal (Green Mangoes with Salt!) from a street vendor to try!
Saturday - 27/5/17
On Saturday, Madeline (a friend from Venezuela) and I, spent the day at in Otavalo at one of South America's largest and most spectacular indigenous markets, and this is one of those places which is hard to describe. The market encompasses the majority of the town square, and then some, and is filled with vendors selling almost everything. Need a spoon for your lunch that you bought? Got it. Need a bag or bucket to carry all your purchases in? Got it. We walked around for a good majority of the day, found lunch in town at a small restaurant called Poutin, had some gourmet french fries and headed toward's Otavalo's other market - their animal market. Now, Madeline and I both bonded over our former pet guinea pigs and our love of animals, so this was a fairly awful idea as this was a market to purchase animals to eat. We fortunately spent too much time at the other market, and the animal market was almost closed so we weren't exposed to too many things we didn't want to see. Enough said. Following our adventures through Otavalo, we took a bus to a smaller town called San Pablo and walked to the Lago de San Pablo. This lake was spectacular! Sitting right next to a volcano, the Lake of San Pablo was absolutely stunning. We only spent a couple of hours at the lake since we were dead tired, and eventually headed back to Otavalo to catch a bus back to Quito.
Favorite memories:
- Taking a 2 hour bus ride from Quito to Otavalo (and back) through Quito's hills and valleys (P.S. They play movies for you too!)
- Bargaining for the first time for a blanket and poncho at the Otavalo market
- Buying a coconut! They're sold in carts which walk up and down the street. When you buy one, they shave all the brown skin off, cut a hole in the top, and give you a straw. You get to drink the milk of the coconut AND eat the actual thing. So crazy!
- Taking a boat ride through the Lake of San Pedro and feeling the wind and water splash in your face
- Eating banana empanadas and sharing a scary looking fish with Madeline for lunch
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Sunday - 28/5/17
For our adventure today, Madeline and I ventured to the City at the Middle of the World (Ciudad mitad del mundo). This is a HUGE tourist attraction in Ecuador as it is the GPS location of the actual Equator. Here one is able to stand in both hemispheres at once, see crazy demonstrations about gravity at the equator, and, of course, take a lot of pictures. We first visited the Museum of Intinan (museo del intiñan) at the recommendation of Ceci, and here you will find the actual GPS located Equator, along with several lessons about the Amazon and the local people. It was super cool to do all the experiments and experience the equator in different ways like balancing an egg on the top of a nail, walking along a straight line between the two hemispheres, and a water demonstration where the water spins different ways on both sides of the Equator. After visiting this museum, we went to the actual monument which is less than a block away, and was enacted by the French explorers when they first began studying the equator in Ecuador. However, after some advancements in technology, it was discovered that this wasn't the actual equator, but it was too late as the monument had already been made (and it's huge!). At the actual monument, there are more tourist attractions such as a lot of stores, restaurants, llamas, different museums, and even cultural dances in the plaza. Both attractions ended up taking quite a bit of time, and we ended up leaving later in the afternoon, just as exhausted as we were at the end of the day before.
Favorite memories:
- Visiting the Museum of Intinan, having a small and interactive tour group, and getting to see all the Equator demonstrations!
- Having lunch at the actual monument and getting to try llapingachos (a traditional Ecuadorian dish)!
- Missing our bus stop on the way home and taking the craziest taxi ever (Literally, he was crazy. Drove like an insane person and almost got in a fight with another driver)
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