Past Halfway

This past Saturday was the halfway point in my Ecuadorian adventure.  Honestly, it feels like I've been here for forever, and I can't imagine having two more weeks in South America.  On the other hand, I feel like these next two weeks are going to fly by.  I'm ready to be home to see family, friends, and especially Nate, but I know that the Lord has me here for a purpose;  a purpose that I am still searching for.

So, this past Friday afternoon, me, Sam, Jenn, and Cameron braved the public bus system and traveled 2.5 hours away from Quito to a town called Otavalo.  It was the most traditional Ecuadorian town we had visited yet, with an extremely large population of indigenous people.  It is also famous for its Saturday artisan and animal markets.  We arrived and found our hostel, Hostel Chasqui, at sunset.  Luckily, our hostel was on the side of the mountain and had an AMAZING view of the city at dusk.

We asked the owner of our hostel, Roberto, what the best dinner restaurant was, and he told us "Taco Bello!"  And yes, it is in fact pronounced like Taco Bell.  We were pleasantly surprised that it was incredibly fresh and incredibly delicious...and only $2!  The town basically shut down at 8 PM, so we got a good night's sleep and awoke early to get to the famous animal market.  Little did we know what awaited us!  It was insanely overwhelming and crowded with a TON of animals!  We were watching where we walked so we wouldn't step in poop, and trying not to get attacked by wild hogs, and trying to avoid all the chickens flapping around everywhere!  It was an amazing, truly Ecuadorian experience that I will never forget!

Indigenous women holding "cuy"--guinea pig!  An Ecuadorian delicacy!

We then made our way up to the artisan market, where we haggled over alpaca, leather goods, and artwork.  Apparently, I am a fierce bargainer and I feel like I walked away with some pretty good stuff :)  Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with some helado de paila (kettle ice cream) y fruta...the most AMAZING dessert ever...and kinda healthy as well!  I also found a new fruit that I love...guanábana!

We then took a short taxi ride up one of the mountains to the Cascada de Peguche...so beautiful.

After that, we just had a very late lunch at a cute, outdoor place called Green Cafe, then caught the bus back.  The next day, we got up and took another 2 hour bus to a nearby village called Mindo.  This is an extremely small town in the Amazonian cloud forest known for its amazing diversity of butterflies and birds.  It's also a great place to go canopying, which is exactly what we did after hopping on a chiva bus to go up the mountain...typical Ecuador!

Doing the "Superwoman" with one of our guides!

Canopying was AMAZING.  Zipping through and over the Amazon forest, hundreds of feet in the air, is unlike anything I have ever experienced.  I was so overtaken by the vastness of it all, and the strength of creativity the Lord must have.  Que beleza!  Afterwards, we went to a coffee plantation and tried some famous Ecuadorian coffee.  We were expecting this huge touristy experience, but it was just a house of the side of the road with three people sitting outside just drinking coffee...they told us just to go look around their backyard plantation, with coffee they ship all over the world!  What did we expect in a town with one paved road?  What a neat surprise!

Coffee beans...yum!

We then went to a local juice bar, and ended up staying there for a long time, just talking to the owners.  One was from Uruguay and one was from Portugal.  It's so neat the people you encounter while traveling.  Everyone has a story to tell, and they are usually eager to tell it to you.

Sam, Jenn, and me at the Juice Bar

These past two days, I have been at a new, private clinic that specializes in orthodontics.  I do like the change of scenery, but I also miss the Social Security Clinic.  I'll be back there for my last week here, though.  Today after clinic, we visited El Mitad del Mundo...the Equator!  I'll save that for my next post, though.

"Y a Aquel ques es poderoso para hacer todas las cosas mucho más abundantemente de lo que pedimos o entendemos, según el poder que actúa en nosotros, a él sea gloria..."

Efesios 3:20-21

Un abrazo fuerte,

Courtney