Harry Potter and the 91-Point Turn

On Saturday we had our first group excursion. Obviously we’ve been going all sorts of places since I got here but this was our first overnight trip outside of the Quito area. I got to the university early- around 8:15 to see if I could buy a water and get more money. We were going to Otavalo which has the biggest artisan market in Ecuador, so I figured I’d need some extra cash. Of course the banks were closed since it was Saturday. I wasn’t broke but I knew that I couldn’t buy a lot and I’d have to bargain hard!

Pretty soon everyone showed up. Christina was our leader for the trip since Maria Teresa wasn’t coming. Zack and Karina- a USFQ student who lives in the indigenous town of Peguche- also helped out. Christina told me that she was really just winging it since she wasn’t given much more information than our proposed schedule. I don’t think anyone could really tell though. We never know what’s going on, we just blindly follow. Anyway we had a chartered bus driven by a nice bus driver who loved to speed over bumps in the road- and there were many. It was like a small coach bus (no bathroom in the back or anything) so I assumed it would be a pretty nice ride. Oh how I was mistaken! It was like instead of shocks this bus had pogo stick springs. We were all tired from the night before, but it was really hard to sleep with all that rockin and rollin. The seats leaned back but I couldn’t get mine to move. I tried to sleep sitting up but that was not going to fly so I decided I would make that damn orange lever move it my life depended on it, I looked down under my seat at the lever and it looked like it had previously been broken and then welded back together. Apparently I’m not the only one who has had this problem. Finally I got it to move by using my right hand. I think it needed to move a little to the right and then up. Either way I was less vertical. I tried to sleep but every time we hit a big bump my seat would sit back up again! It happened at least three times on the bus ride there. So I got a little rest but needless to say it wasn’t particularly pleasant.

After an hour or so we arrived at the mitad del mundo- or the middle of the world. It’s a point on the equator where I think some scientist determined that yes, it is indeed the equator. There’s a little monument thing and a big stone globe. So it’s basically a roadside attraction. We took a bunch of pictures and balanced an egg on its end to prove we were on the equator. Then we trooped back on the bus and ended up who knows where at a biscocho bakery. Biscochos are little pastries that are kind of like sugarless shortbread cookies. I really don’t know how to describe them but they were tasty. We also got hot chocolate that, once you added some sugar, was tasty too. Unfortunately Emily T didn’t get to drink hers because she spilled it all over Danielle before she had the chance. Poor Danielle had to wear the chocolate for the whole trip. Later on the bus we were talking about cooking shows and travel shows and how you can’t really know if you’ll like any kind of food without trying it and Danielle says, “I don’t think you really know a food or drink until it’s all over your pants.” I almost died laughing.

After a little more time on the bumpy bus we were at Otavalo. This market went on forever. We only had about an hour and 45 minutes so we did not have time to see it all. There was so much to take in, it was hard to concentrate. Walking by, most booths looked pretty similar but if you stopped and looked you could find some nice stuff amid the crap. Danielle and I walked around fairly quickly to try and take it all in but I’m sure we didn’t see near all of it. We both bought some gifts but decided that we definitely need to go back. Bargaining was slightly awkward but I think I did ok. I never really wanted to haggle too much because I know that this is some people’s living. But I didn’t have a lot of money to spend either.

At one stand this woman had little gourd things carved like little animals. Danielle was looking at a little cuy- guinea pig- and picked up a little owl. The lady kept showing me this other owl saying, ‘this one’s nice too’ so eventually I bought it for like a dollar.

Pretty soon we had to meet back up with everyone to have lunch- at 3pm. We went to this really nice restaurant and had a four course meal. We got ceviche, soup, chicken and dessert. Of course it was accompanied by pineapple juice- Ecuadorians love their juice. Tangent: One night I was drinking water with dinner and Guadalupe asked me why was I drinking water and not juice?? She seemed concerned.

After our long, late lunch we got back on the bus and drove to Peguche to climb the waterfall. By then it was getting colder so everyone put on their purchases to keep warm. I didn’t climb to the top of the waterfall, just to the little platform next to it. Some people climbed all the way to the top and across along the mountain ridge. Once they finally came down the sun was setting so we made our way back to the bus. On the way to the hostel the bus had to turn around but the street the driver decided to turn around on wasn’t ideal. As soon as we turned to go up this street we heard a horrible scraping on the bottom of the bus- like we were scraping off all the important parts of the engine. Then of course he had to back up and do it again. It was awful. He kept going back and forth, scraping every time. Each time he would step on the brakes it sounded like an asthmatic duck playing the saxophone. It was hilariously awful.

Finally Christina got out to direct him but at that point the back end was just sticking out into the road. It was getting dark and the cars came whipping around the bend without even slowing down. Each time they did, the headlights would shine right in our window as if they were about to careen right into us. Eventually he backed up far enough- into the ditch on the other side- to make the turn and we all applauded. It was thereafter dubbed the 91 point turn.

The hostel we stayed at was really cute. We all got private bathroom which was a plus and the rooms seemed fairly clean. I’d never been to a hostel before but it seemed more like a little hotel. Before dinner we explored the grounds- in the dark. Our rooms faced a little creek but you could only hear it in the dark. On the creek side of the hostel was a little patio with hammocks and the gates to hell. There was also a bridge that led supposedly to massages but it looked more like ruins in the dark. And it was really dark. The only light people had were their cell phones. They were legit flashlights on the top of the phone and not just the backlight but still. Then we hung out in the hammock chairs in front of our rooms until dinner.

At dinner we got this hot alcoholic beverage called canelazo. I really didn’t like it. I tried to down it like everyone else but almost spit it back up. It reminded me too much of the morenos in Lumbisi… Dinner was bread, soup (of course, Ecuadorians can’t live without their soup) which I didn’t eat since it was broccoli, main course and dessert. My main course was supposed to be a pork chop but it ended up being more like breakfast ham in mushroom sauce. It wasn’t bad, just not what I expected. The dessert was very similar to the canelazo but not alcoholic. It was just a really thin, warm jelly that you could put whipped cream on. It was hard to get on the spoon and not many of us ate it. It was weird.

Throughout dinner we enjoyed almost endless live Andean music. At one point six little kids came out to dance and sing for us. They were adorable. One dance the boys wore these scary crocheted hood-mask things that were everywhere in Otavalo. They took those off, thankfully, for the rest of their set. Their dances were cute because some were good at it and others had to be helped a little more. They sang in Quichua and Spanish and it was adorable. The band played two sets but before they could play their third- which they promised to do- we left. We were all really tired. Danielle and I retired to our room, talked a little and went to sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast at 8. We had coffee, tea and juice to drink and the first course was bread, cheese and tomatoes. Then we got eggs cooked to order as well. It was tasty but I feel like I’m always eating here. I’m almost never hungry because I’m eating all the time. Guadalupe thinks I don’t eat very much but my God I don’t usually eat 15 different things just for breakfast! Anyway, after we checked out- I don’t remember handing in my key but maybe I did- we got back on the bus to go to the instrument workshop. Of course to get there we had to turn around. We turned up a street that had a sign for Hotel Picaflor so I had to take a picture of it. Luckily the driver took a while to turn around. This time it was a successful 3 point turn so we were pretty excited.

At the instrument workshop we had a demonstration of how to make a pan flute. The guy did it in like 5 minutes, it was crazy. Then we had a demonstration of the instruments, he explained a few to us and we had the opportunity to buy.
Then we went to Cuicocha. It’s a volcanic lake with three little islands in the middle. The volcano imploded at one point and runoff from the mountains filled the lake. Given the altitude the lake is at, it should be frozen but it isn’t because the volcano is still active. Occasionally it emits gas but that’s it. It’s called Cuicocha because cuy live on the islands. We got a little boat ride around the islands which was fun but cold. The boat wasn’t extremely stable so people were getting nervous. It wasn’t a long ride though.

Then we made our way to Cotacachi the town named after the nearby volcano/mountain? We got lunch at a nice little place where we got the daily special. It was soup and fried trout. It was pretty good except there were some little bones in the trout you had to look out for. After lunch we looked at some of the numerous leather stores and Danielle and Keunae found a knock off shoe store. Danielle bought herself some AL- STAR high-tops with flowers and pistols on them for $12. Keunae was looking at some NINE high-tops but she didn’t want to pay $18 for them. “Dieciochooooo no, no!” They also had some nice Adibas. Haha.

Then we got on the bus and drove back to the university. I called Guadalupe to see if she could pick me up to get film for photography but she didn’t answer so I walked home. On the way she and Pato pulled up and gave me a ride for a couple blocks. Apparently they were at church. As soon as I got back I took a shower since I was disgusting. As I was getting out of the shower Guadalupe says through the door that she has my black and white film and when I open the door she hands me a black and white movie!! In Spanish, camera film and movie are the same word. Even though I thought I was pretty clear it was for my camera she still misunderstood. That was funny but that meant that I would have to find film in between classes the next day which would be a hassle.

Then I went downstairs to have dinner which consisted of bread and little pieces of mozzarella-like cheese. It was tasty and not too much. But I also had lemon ginger tea that wasn’t so great. Guadalupe has a box of a bunch of different kind of teas and I’ve been trying them all. That one has been my least favorite so far. Then I went up to my room to work on my homework and skyped with Zach.

I know that these last few posts have been long so thanks for sticking with it!

Hasta Luego,
Caitlin