Days 9+10: Otavalo Market

After checking out of the hotel, we took a bus to one of the largest indigenous markets in Ecuador. Along the way we made a few stops. At one of them we had the opportunity to buy Panama hats and try dulce de leche on a Latin American pastry called a bizcocho. Caramel is one of my favorite flavors, so I enjoyed it very much!

When we got back on the bus, Analu told us she had a surprise — three indigenous sisters would perform traditional songs for us. They told us about their traditional clothing and we had the chance to buy some of the things they had made.

For lunch that day I had Ecuadorian shrimp ceviche. It is very different from the ceviche back home in that it was more of a cold soup with shrimp in it. Guinea pigs are a delicacy in Ecuador, so Analu ordered two and cut them up into little pieces for the people that wanted to try it. I thought it tasted good, like a cross between duck and chicken. Something I could only try in Ecuador!

Our final stop was in Otavalo at the market. It was very large, with different sections for different items. (ie: a silver section, a sweater section, a painting section.) It was a great opportunity to practice my Spanish! After I was almost out of money but had many treasures–including an alpaca sweater, blanket and a coin purse–we headed back to the bus.

It was a long drive back to Quito and the airport, and along the way we got to see a beautiful sunset. The sun rises at 6:00 and sets at 6:00 all year round in Ecuador. We stopped at a huge mall in Quito for dinner before going to the airport.

While there, we said goodbye to Analu. She had done a terrific job of guiding us, supporting us, and teaching us. We were so lucky to have her as our guide.

After such a perfect trip, you know something had to go wrong. Our flight from Quito to Miami was an hour late. We originally only had a two hour layover in Miami to go through customs, recheck our bags, and go through security. We knew it would be tight. As soon as we got through security, we sprinted barefoot through the airport, hoping the plane wouldn’t leave without 36 of its passengers. Right as we were arriving, one of our teachers stopped us. “We missed it.” They had closed the doors three minutes early and wouldn’t open them, so we missed the plane. The airline gave us food vouchers so we bought 10 pizzas and lots of ice cream and soda to console ourselves. I was lucky and got to fly out that night but most of the group flew out the next morning. It was an stressful end to an otherwise amazing trip.