Otavalo- August 27th

So I am a little behind, but here´s the update: Two weekends ago I went on an excursion with my program group to the city of Otavalo.  Along the way we stopped at 'La mitad del mundo', aka 'The middle of the world'.  I got to stand on the equator! This is one of the few places on Earth where your GPS will actually read 0' 0' 0'.  It is also one of the only places where you can see all of the star constellations!  I took several pictures standing on the dividing line between the northern and southern hemisphere.  Unfortunately, none of the tricks about water spinning in different directions depending on the hemishper are true.  Toilets flush pretty much any way the manufacturers want.  Try it at home, you can make the water in your drain spin different directions based on how you pull the plug out.

The next place we stopped at was this biscocho factory! Biscochos are very similar to biscotti cookies. The biscocho is a very traditional cookie that is baked twice and then served with hot chocolate, sugar, and cheese.  They are absolutely delicious.  In the small bakery that we visited the people work making 1000s and selling 1000s every day.  They have these giant ovens and have a systematic way of making and cutting the dough.  You can get 10 biscochos for only $1.  I brought a bag to share with my host family. yum!

Outside Otavalo we stopped at a scenic view point for some pictures and picked up two indigenous Andean girls.  The girls were adorable in their traditional outfits. They sung songs for us in Quichau and sold pretty scarves and bracelets on the way to the market.

In Otavalo, we went to the largest open air market in South America.  This place had everything you could ever imagine from alpaca sweaters to silver jewelry to India Jones hats.  The artwork was beautiful!  We stopped for a delicious lunch at a local restaurant where they had a live Andean band.  After eating our fill the shopping began!

I got really good at haggling!  The prices were already cheap in comparison to the US but bartering is part of the experience.  I bought a traditional pair of leather sandals and a silver ring for myself.  I also did a little bit of Christmas shopping.  The prices were so cheap and the items so unique that I will definitely be going back with a bit more money next time.

Later that day we checked into our hostel and then went to see the waterfall!  Ecuadorians are not all that safety conscience so we were able to climb and hike up and down the falls!  We also discovered a really cool cave that opens up behind the falls.  I got pretty daring and actually walked across an old log that made a bridge across the river.

When we returned to the hostel a wonderful dinner was prepared with live entertainment.  At the meal we sampled a traditional Ecuadorian drink made of blackberry.  For music two indigenous men played Andean instruments for us while their children danced for us.  The musicians were incredibly talented.  Each one played more than three different instruments from guitar to flute to harmonica, etc. All of the children were dressed up in traditional outfits and some wore masks.  The entire experience was definitely the highlight of my trip thus far.  I loved the music so much that I bought 3 of their CDs.

Sunday morning we went to an instrument factory in the town.  This was actually located in the home of the master instrument crafter.  This indigenous man was completely self taught at making and playing instruments. He demonstrated how to make a ´Rondedor´, a very traditional type of flute played in Ecuador.  After that, he showed how to play all the instruments in his shop and gave us a try.  Before we left, he played a song with his daughters on several of the instruments that he made.

We spent the remainder of the day hiking the mountains surrounding San Pablo lake.  We also went on a boat ride around to see the small island in the lake´s center created years ago by a volcano.

The last place we stopped was a small town outside Otavalo called Cotacachi.  Cotacachi is very famous for its leather crafts.  There were a ton of shops selling leather boots, jackets, purses, and more! By this point I was completely, out of money but I intend to go back to by a nice motorcyle jacket!

All in all a very eventful weekend! Check out my photos in the gallery!