Loving the view!

Let me tell you all, Ecuador is beautiful. Everyone should visit it. now. then I can see you...ok I guess that's a little selfish. Anyway, I guess I could let you all know what I've been up to in the past couple of days!

Well it's saturday night and I'm back in Quito. I think I wrote last on Thursday. So I'll pick up with Friday. We woke up bright and early and headed off to the city of Otavalo. Its north of Quito about two hours. On the way we just happened to stop at "la ciudad mitad del mundo" (or, the city in the middle of the world). You guessed it, the equator! Haha it was kinda silly but very cool to see. Of course surrounded by the beautiful andes mountains (like everything in this region) it was a big statue with a line drawn all the way through the park demonstrating where the equator is. (we later learned that the line is actually off by a little bit). We just spent some time enjoying the view and then got back on the bus to Otavalo.

Otavalo is a very charming city. I loved it. Mostly I have a great respect for the city, they've done some amazing things. It is probably the only city in the world to have an indigenous mayor. (that is, someone from the native descent, in this case the Incas). Not only is he the mayor but he has completely turned the city upside down and shifted the power from those who had it for hundreds of years to those who have never had it. It's truly remarkable.

We spent alot of time visiting nearby pueblos or villages where music and arts are abundant. 90% of this native tribe is gifted musically and can play multiple instruments. We got plenty of demonstrations and I was so impressed. We also got the chance to see a guinea pig farm...yes, they eat guinea pig here in Ecuador. They are called "cuyos". I wanted to grab them all and put them in my bag pack and save them. But then I remembered just becuase their culture is different, doesn't mean it's wrong.

Lets see...after all the visiting of places we had some free time in the city. We ate at this hilarious restaurant which I think was also used for growing some sort of illegal substances and was filled with american hippies who apparantely own the place. Cats and dogs roamed the area and sat on my feet while I ate. It was amazing food. The fruit here is unbelievable.

This morning we got to sleep in a little...finally and had the morning free to go to the local market. Otavalo is known for it's saturday market. Most of the city center and more is taken up by booth after booth of venders selling beautiful handicrafts, clothes, food, everything. The weather was gorgeous so it was really nice to walk around.

After that we got on the bus and headed up to the most beautiful place I have seen so far in my entire life. It is an ancient volcano that somehow has developed a lake in the middle. I don't know how high up we were but it was alot, and then the water was this beautiful blue color and the volcano was an amazing shade of green. The weather was beautiful, blue skies and everything. It was absolutely perfect.

Then we left for a smaller town to have some lunch and look around. Nothing too exciting there. Lots of leather.

After that we got on the bus for our two hour ride back to Quito, and now I'm here back in the same hotel we were in Wednesday and Thursday night. I think we are planning on checking out the nightlife here in Quito since it's our last night here. Apparently there is some club close to our hotel called "flashback" so I'm excited to see what the entails.

Tomorrow we begin our journey to Cuenca, the city I will be in the majority of the summer. We will be making some stops along the way so it's going to take a few days. I arrive Tuesday night and then I meet my host family! Hopefully I will be able to give you an update on that as soon as possible!

I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer. I miss you all and love you lots!

Linds