Saying goodbye to Pichincha

We had a wonderful view of Cotopaxi

The virgin statue aka el panecillo (because the hill looks like a bread roll)

Standard jumping picture hehe

Alex and his family that was so nice as to take us around

View of Southern Quito from the statue

The quilted, rolling mountains that I am going to miss so much

La Iglesia de San Francisco

Sunset from our roof.  Priceless.

Last day tie ups.  We went to el panecillo (the virgin statue) in the morning.  We took el payaso bus to meet up with Alex and his cousin, who was nice enough to give us a ride to the statue.  It's in a really dangerous area - apparently the neighborhoods right below the hill are the most dangerous in Quito.  The statue is the only virgin depicted with wings and faces the north.  Quito used to end at the area where the statue is located, but it grew and it's back is to the south, the larger and more dangerous part of Quito.

After that we went to La Iglesia de San Francisco.  The inside was very similar to La Compañia with a lot of intricate gold decorations and the layout was very similar.  Sadly, the front and many of the statues in the church are in the process of being restored (there is a panel in front of the church with the facade beforehand and the statues that are supposed to be inside were missing).  Alex's cousin's mom got married there!!!! Such a gorgeous church, as all of the colonial churches in Quito are.  It was so nice to walk around the historic district one last time, with Alex's family as our personal tour guides.  We found out that one of their president's was murdered on the deck of the presidential palace in La Plaza Grande and he showed us the plaques.

They took us to go get lunch in the north, as we had never tried fritadas before.  Turns out it is a type of pork dish - there was so much food!! Very yummy and it kept us super full until nine when we ate dinner haha.  Also, everything in the north is nicer.  The bathroom had toilet paper!  And there was a higher percentage of foriegners.  After that they dropped us off at a trolley stop (so nice that they drove us everywhere!) and we headed to la mariscal for some last minute shopping at the artisinal market and got pedicures.  My feet feel so soft and clean :)  We caught a taxi home and we finished up our packing.  So sad to put everything away.  We got home just in time to catch the sunset and I went right up to the roof.  Such a spectacular view and I'm going to miss it like none other.  When else can I look at mountains from my window?

We headed back to the historic district for dinner with Alex and the crew one more time.  We got dropped off at la ronda near a plaza and our taxi driver peaced.  Thanks?  We went to the middle near a police officer and waited for everyone else to arrive.  When they arrived they promptly told us that they had just been running as they were afraid of getting robbed - they went over a bridge and two black guys stood up and were threatening.  Made us slightly nervous, as we had always felt safe in this area.  We're just too trusting sometimes.  We found a little café that had good coffee and we tried empanadas de moracho (a type of grain).  We hung out and then they told us that we should probably leave as this area got more dangerous as the night went on (being a sunday night, there weren't that many people walking around).  Despite all the warnings, we had no issue and then they were nice enough to drive us all the  way back to the south.  Alex's cousin's friend joined us at the end and when he said he had to drive to the south (Quicentro Sur/Puente de Guajalo) her friend was really really surprised.

Safe and sound we are hanging out for one last night.  La Esperie in the morning!!

Ecuadorian Baptism Party

Making the potato pancake things.  Note the ginormous pig.

So much food! These are just the appetizers

Sebas (left) with the DJ

Vicente, my six year old dance partner

Courtney with our humongous plates of food

Sebas and I.  He was so cute in his suit!!

Doña Cecelia with a huge plate of food. 

It's a big deal.  Like wedding big deal.  So much food. Enough to feed an army.

Sebas (one of our students - he invited us to the baptism) came to our house early in the afternoon so he could bring us back to the house.  It was the most convoluted route - by the end we had no idea where we were.  We took the same bus that we take to school, but then turned here and there, crossed a big road, went up steep stairs cut into the side of a hillside and walked some more.  We got to his house around 2:45 and were the first guests there, as apparently we weren't going to the church for the actual ceremony, just the celebration afterwards.  And the party didn't start until five.  Awkward.  Four gringo girls just chillin at the house.  In dresses.  We helped put chairs out and make the potato pancake-like things, but other than that we kind of felt like we were in the way.  But we had Sebas and his cousins to talk to - one of them, Vicent, fought to sit next to me and was such a sweetheart of a six year old.  Definitely my dance partner for the night.

Not only did they have several large speakers, but they had a DJ with a real desktop computer and a disco ball.  They all went around and gave toasts (there was a head table with the parents and direct family of the little three year old juan adrian).  They started having other people speak, and we were so worried that everyone would have to say something.  And that we would have to give a toast.  Cue stomach churning.  But thank goodness that was not the case.  We drank to the occasion and then the dancing began.  We had to burn off enough calories so that we were ready for the feast to come!  There were many appetizers of cookies and fresco queso cheese and little candies.  The first round was soup with rice and veggies and a whole potato and a chunk of chicken.  Pretty much filling just by itself.  The main dish was pork (they grilled a whole pig and they told us that they killed it themselves on thursday) and potatoes (a mix of sweet and normal potatoes in a patty like form cooked on a skillet, but still soft on the inside) and ecuadorian corn off the cob and shredded lettuce.  Doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it was piled high on these plates.  Enough so that you made sure to balance your plate really carefully so it wouldn't all topple.  We had no idea how we would eat it all, but figured it would be rude to leave any food (this is a huge deal for them.  they save and save to throw a huge event like this.  their house has dirt floors and two bedrooms for at least ten people.).  Thankfully they gave everyone bags to put their food in so that you could eat a portion and save the rest of your plate.

We left shortly after the dinner, as Caitlin wasn't feeling so well, and as we had been there for around six hours.  It was such an amazing experience to have and to witness the generosity of this family and ecuadorians in general.  They have so little, but will share whatever they have.  They invited us, shared their celebration and food and culture with us when they never had to do that.  Also, as we were asking for directions to tell our cab driver (no way we were wandering home at night) Doña Cecelia's husband offered to drive us home (Doña Cecilia is Sebas' grandmother) and he took us all the way to our door.  He refused to let us off anywhere else.  We were so grateful for the ride!! And for the opportunity to take part in this wonderful, happy celebration.  The ride home was especially beautiful, as all of Quito was lit up.  It was cool to take the same bus route that we take home from school, but at night it looked completely different.  It's a little bit higher than the main part of Quito, so we got a gorgeous elevated view of Quito at night (we passed by the field that we went to on thursday and at night it looked even prettier).  Quito is so lit up at night.  Lights as far as you can see, except partway up the mountainsides they stop.

One day left in this lovely city and so much to do.  We are going to the virgin statue (el panecillo) in the morning and then maybe the zoo, maybe the botanical gardens, the artisinal market in la mariscal, and maybe the basilica. And then maybe we'll pass out. Livin it up on our last day.  So much left to do.

Last day of school

Jeny and I (one of our third graders)

Soccer game! The kids just scored

The view from our school that I will miss dearly

Jhon and I.  Right after I dragged him back into our classroom

Jhon. Trying to escape per us.

The quishpe clan plus patty and estalin.

Our time here has gone by so fast.  We are no longer teachers.  And will no longer see our precious children.  On thursday the kids took us to a field up the road that had an absolutely gorgeous view of all of quito.  It was a good way to end the day.  When I started to think about leaving (and the fact that Lianna and Sam were leaving in a matter of hours) I would just sit and hold one of our children and stare out into the city (basically just holding Jeny, our angel third grade child).

On friday we had a party for the kids.  It started out with a soccer game with us versus the students - we were so outnumbered, but were slightly more organized.  We left it at a tie though.  We were all so extremely competitive.  After every goal, there was an outbreak of yelling and chanting.  Then we showed the kids the dance that we had prepared to the popular song, Choque.  Annie taught us some steps the night before and we practiced forever until we were semi together.  The kids were silent after the first time through. We thought that they hated it.  Probably just in shock of our lack of dance talent (and by that I mean mine...) but then they wanted an encore.  All in all, we did that dance many times on friday.  After that we broke up into stations - Annie taught the kids a simplified version of the dance, they made cards, Henry and Juhee set up an obstacle course, Bri did face painting and then there were outdoor games.

And then a special lunch of rice and beans and ice cream, but the rice had chicken, sausage, pepper and peas in it instead of just being white rice.  Very yummy.  After we handed out notebooks with class pictures and notes from the teachers.  They went around and had everyone sign them and give out email addresses. I hope they email us! But who knows if they know how to navigate the internet.  Hannah created an account for one of her students and showed her how to use it, so hopefully we will get messages from Evelin.  It would be cool to keep in contact.

Sebas came up to me and he was crying as he hugged me.  Broke the dam.  I couldn't see his notebook as I was attempting to write in it.  I am going to miss their smiling faces, tickle attacks, guess who (they cover your eyes - favorite game ever), amarcame whines and constant hugs.  I already do.  We played with them and took pictures and took over an hour and a half to say good bye to all of them.  Some of them understand the concept that we aren't coming back, but a lot of the little ones kept saying "see you on monday!" even after we told them that it was our last day.  All you can do is give them a big hug and fight back the lump in your throat.  So attached after only a month.  A month that slipped through my fingers.  Eventually we just had to leave - it was time.  We came home and just reminisced and looked through all of our pictures, instead of going through with our grand plans to go downtown and explore Quito.  I had 350 pictures just from friday (the kids stole it for a large portion of the day - they love taking pictures) and my fully charged battery was on the verge of dying.  A day well captured.  I took videos of my kids talking to the camera, singing and reading out loud so that I will never forget their precious voices and personalities.  The trouble makers are the ones that get to you the most.  Jhon could be the worst during class, but he was the hardest student to say goodbye to.  Even after he called me Eleno on wednesday, the little snot.  I am going to miss his antics.

That night we all just hung out and played sardines and charades in the house.  So hard to play sardines - not the best hiding places.  We turned off the lights and it was so creepy to be wandering around an empty house.  Bittersweet as we knew that we were losing Alexa and Alex in the morning and then Bri, Juhee and Hannah at night.  Goodbyes are becoming frequent.  But these aren't goodbyes for real.  Reunited in Ann Arbor very soon :)

But then they wouldn't let Juhee on her flight!!! I just got a message from Bri that she didn't have her green card (she's a citizen of south korea) on her and they had to leave her.  How scary! Poor babe!!!  But I am waiting up for her and Caitlin is going with her to the embassy on monday to figure everything out.  But that's just very scary to be dealing with by yourself.  But we have her for a couple more days :)

Last week of school...

Yesterday Hannah and I went to the market to buy food for the kids before school.  It was such a struggle...  We had to buy 14 pounds of rice and of beans along with two huge papayas, watermelons, mini bananas and strawberries - carrying it all was very difficult!  People who buy food for their livelihood here must have a better system worked out.  We slowly hobbled with all of our stuff until we found a cab haha.  But first rate service - we got dropped off right outside of the school.

Third grade has shrunk immensely.  Where did all of our kids go?  We are down from eleven to four to seven kids a day.  Jhon was hilarious yesterday.  He refused to come back into the classroom and once we locked him out, he would bang on the door and also lock it from the outside so we couldn't open the door ourselves.  Smart little boy.  The next trick was putting a random plank up against the wall and climbing up to the window and hanging there slash trying to enter that way.  I had to look the other way in order to keep a straight face.  So persistent!  At first he didn't want to take the quiz or write his punishment lines (which is why we locked him out - if he didn't want to work then he wasn't allowed in the classroom) which were really only five sentences (yo debo quedar en la clase aka I will stay in the classroom). Bri got him to come around and then he wrote his lines during recess, when he desperately tried to escape the classroom - we had to cover all of the windows and the door.  That kid is strong.  He finally wrote them one word at a time but it took him forever and a half.  I'm going to miss these kids and their personalities so much.  Their antics are slightly annoying, but they also make me laugh.

After school I went running to the park by myself.  I was panting pretty much the whole time, especially when I went up a hill (maybe incline is a better description...) but the park is so pretty and it was so sunny and nice out.  It felt good to go out by myself - I definitely miss my therapeutic long runs.

I also did laundry.  Best thing ever.  Clean clothes!!!!  Probably the last time I'll clean my clothes here - I'll just bring all my dirty clothes back and do them at home hehe.  Sure my parents will love me for that. I have four whole days in Quito left and so much left to do and see.  We are going to start cramming stuff in - churches, museums, hikes.  We're just always wiped and hungry after school that venturing on a trolley isn't the most fun thing to do, but we will make it happen.  And on monday I leave for La Esperie.  I decided to include a link in case anyone wanted more info (http://www.workingabroad.com/page/140/cloud-forest-ecuador.htm).  I'm doing the conservation program and I'm getting so excited!! They have monkeys there.  We say a pet monkey in Montañita, but I want to see ones in the wild. 

Every weekend is an adventure: the chapter of Montañita

The many vendors of Montañita

The gorgeous beach the first day. The water was so blue.

Third week of school.  It was basically a blur.  Time goes by so fast here!!!  On tuesday I ventured into the north by myself to go to my orientation for La Hesperia Biological Station.  First of all, it took me two hours to get there, so I was an hour late.  Whoops...  But actually, on Ecuadorian time that's not that bad.  We tried to take our bus from school farther into La Mariscal Area, but it was the wrong bus and trying to find a bus that went in the right direction was apparently really difficult.  I kept asking buses if they went to the soccer stadium (the office was only a couple blocks away) but none did.  A nice lady dropped her children off at an english language school and then waited with me for buses.  We had to have waited for a half hour - craziness.  She didn't want me to take the trolley as it isn't quite as safe, but it's a lot faster.  I mean, I felt fine taking it.  Getting back was a lot easier and only took an hour.  I had enough daylight to take the trolley and bus and paid fifty cents instead of $7-$10.  We have gotten so cheap.  Not looking forward to paying American prices...

I got there and thank goodness someone was still at the office and she didn't seem upset at all.  Very understanding.  The town that the biological station is located next to is a lot smaller than I realized; only about fifty families live in La Esperie.  And it's a random stop on a bus route, so I have several landmarks beforehand (I should sit on the left side so I can recognize them baha) and a kilometer marking to guide me.  It looks really pretty and I'm excited to go there.  I don't think I would be ready to say goodbye to Ecuador this weekend.  I've been here for five weeks and only have three weeks left!!!!  But really I feel like I've been here forever and sometimes I forget I'm in a different country.  I think of going into a store in the US and being able to understand everything and it just seems odd.  I love being able to understand spanish - so many people assume that we are here on vacation and can't speak it at all and will talk about you right in front of you.  Fools.

One day at school we were immersed in a cloud.  The view of the mountains depends on the day (sometimes you can see the peaks really well and sometimes the clouds obscure the top) and little by little the landscape was taken over by the misty clouds until we were in the midst of it.  I wish that I had brought my camera - it was really cool.

We took friday off of school so that we could go to the coast.  We took an overnight bus from Quito to Guayaquil at nine at night (it was nine hours and that meant that we could just pass out and arrive at Montañita in the morning so as to have three fullish days).  We were surprised when they starting searching the bags and patting down the guys in front of us.  Searching for weapons?  Lovely guayaquil and it's port city crime.  But being gringos, they just waved us onto the bus.  Transferred in Guayaquil to Montañita and I had an idiot sitting in front of me (also when we asked for directions to the bus station/mall combo - weird right? - they told us that it was fine for them to walk, but for us we should take a bus. Always taking care of the helpless gringos. Needless to say we walked).  Goodness.  These buses don't have that much leg room to begin with and we travel with our backpacks on our laps.  Literally the seat was against my knees when he leaned back, but it wasn't far enough for him.  He would sit up and launch himself backwards in order to attempt to lean back farther. Grrr.

It was cloudy when we got to the coast, but it burned off while we got settled into our hostel and got breakfast.  SUN! All day.  So we basically slept on the beach - we were on the deserted part of the beach until the tide came in - literally all the way up to the rocks, so we went to the area with cabañas and re situated there.  Gorgeous and it felt so good, especially coming from Quito, where it has been quite chilly and cloudy lately.  I got a henna on the inside of my wrist on the beach for super cheap.  It was black, but has since faded to light brown.  A sun with a moon and star in the middle.  Perfect description of this coastal town.  The beach was beautiful during the day and at night - the tide went out so far and it was peaceful to walk along the water's edge.

On Saturday we got breakfast at the best place ever.  Carmita's for pancakes to die for.  Or shall I say, a pancake.  It was huge and super thick, and you could get it with all sorts of fruit or get a chocolate pancake.  Yumm.  Breakfast for sunday too for sure.  We swamped their tiny restaurant.  It was cloudy, so we decided to shop in the morning.  There were vendors all along the streets mostly selling food and beautiful jewelry, including many pieces with gorgeous gems.  There were so many Argentinians and they made up a majority of the vendors.  They are not as dark as Ecuadorians - they look very european except they were super hippies.  We found a new type of jungle pants - like genie pants but even baggier.  And dreads were so prevalent - I would say at least one in ten people there had some sort of dreads.  Hippie beach town :)  We blended in a lot more here as it is a haven for international tourists, backpackers and apparently argentinians (and my prof from winter term totally fits in with them - crazy hair and the biggest hippie/commie ever - many of them reminded me of Fede).

We ate street food for dinner - this yummy calzoneish thing with tomato, ham, cheese and fresh basil.  Delightful.  We took our food down to the beach to attempt to watch the sunset.  We caught a bit of it, but the clouds hid a lot of it.  The waves were still large - they were so big during the day.  Lianna, Courtney and I just went down to the beach to read and stare at the waves.  I went in at one point - someone was surfing farther out where the huge waves were breaking.  They were so strong!!  I so want to live by the ocean at one point, although this was the first time that we couldn't see mountains while being in Ecuador - it was so flat in comparison.  There were some ridges, but they were tiny in comparison.

Sunday we basically just got up, got ready, ate and said goodbye to the beach.  We started our trek home at 1:30, although none of us really wanted to leave this oasis.  Back in Guayaquil, the busline we transferred onto was a lot stricter slash very odd.  They wouldn't let us bring our backpacks onto the bus (we had to check them under the bus - they were really adamant) and they checked all of our real passports (thank goodness we brought them - we typically only carry copies) and then they went around with a video camera to capture all of our faces on tape?? huh...  and about two and a half hours into the ride the bus stopped (it's ten and pitch black out), and a police officer in a highlighter vest and a huge flashlight got on.  We all had to get off.  The officers checked the girl's passports once again and the smaller bags that were allowed on the bus.  They made the guys line up against the bus (eerily like execution style...) and they patted them down once again, but didn't check id.  Also, the bus was ready to leave while many of us were still in the bathroom.  Thanks??  But the ride was uneventful and we got back to quitumbe at 2:30, caught a cab, went home and crashed to get some sleep before school.  Morning came early, but Montañita was so worth it.  I would go back in a heartbeat.

This ended up being way longer than it was supposed to be, but a lot has happened in the past week.  Also, I leave Quito in less than a week?  And goodbyes start on thursday???

Honking fixes everything

The crazy director of the school. El jefe.  Photo credit to one of our dear children.

My new love, Anaomi, the youngest of the Quishpe clan to come to the school.

Lianna's birthday cake. Chocolate + berries + walnuts = best cake ever.

Quilotoa! A lake in the crater of a volcano that collapsed when it last erupted in 1797.

Recap of the week.  On Monday we ventured into the historic district to go to mass at La Compañia, a Jesuit church.  I really just wanted to go in order to be inside of this gorgeous church again.  The outside itself is very intricate, but nothing compared to the inside, where everything is covered in gold.  There are so many different things to look at and take in.  It was amazing to be there.  And when we walked outside it was dusk and the clouds were amazing.  Truly beautiful and a treat to see.  The historic district is one of my favorite parts of Quito - the architecture is colonial and pretty.  Tuesday we ran for the first time (and only time for me...) while we were in Ecuador.  It felt so good to stretch my legs and the park was pretty.  We were surrounded by vegetation and trees, which is rare in Quito.  Concrete, dust and cars are very prevalent but I definitely had missed trails and trees.  It was also Lianna's birthday so we celebrated with cake, a song and a rap from Caitlin.  Chocolate cake was so yummy :)  Wednesday through friday were a blur and when we came home from school we just chilled at the house.  On thursday and friday I subbed for Sam in preschool/first grade.  Babies!  They were so cute!!  But it was definitely a different setting for teaching - lots of singing, reading stories, coloring and learning letters.  Being the sole teacher was nice but at the same time you never got a break.  Pros and cons to everything.

Saturday morning we went to the bus station and got right on a bus to Latacunga, our first stop.  No wait at all!  That bus ride was pretty uneventful and we were all seated in the same area.  On our second bus, which took us all the way to Quilotoa (a gorgeous lake in the crater of a volcano) we were split up throughout the bus.  But we all got seats! I was between two nice kichwan couples.  These buses are the main transportation for many people in ecuador, as having any kind of car is a luxury.  We learned this as a brown paper bag of baby chicks fell from the overhead shelf.  One of them fell between Hannah and her seatmate.  I found it absolutely hilarious.  Her not so much.  People transport their goods and everything on the bus - dogs, livestock, literally everything.  Partway through there was a herd of sheep blocking the entire road.  The bus kept rolling, just honking like crazy so they would move.  And did they run.  I'd never seen sheep roaming freely, but this area had a really big native base and there was a lot of farmland and livestock - there were so many cool fedora's on the bus.  It was interesting to see the contrast between their traditional clothing and modern brands.  One women around our age was dressed head to toe in traditional clothing, but had an aeropostale 87 big purse.  Infiltration at it's finest.

Quilotoa was amazing!  It was slightly cold and windy (so glad I brought my raincoat as it blocked the wind really well) that some of us bought gloves at a market right by the lake.  I took so many pictures, as you just couldn't resist taking another picture and then another just in case it was different than before.  The color of the lake was gorgeous especially with the constrast of the emerald green mountains.  The coastline was pretty with such a variation of color as the water got shallower, and the middle of the lake changed color as well due to the waves and wind moving around the sand (and then changing the depth).  We hiked all the way down and ate lunch overlooking the lake and mountains = breathtaking.  I wish I could do that every day.  I went exploring around the edge of the lake to find different places to sit and just gaze at the surrounding area.  So peaceful and relaxing, and it was fun to climb around and see everything from a different perspective.  I climbed to a peak and I felt like I was on top of the world.  

Our ride home was slightly terrifying.  The first part was fun - we rode in the back of a pickup truck back to the city where we catch the bus.  The guy was hilarious and stopped at his house without mentioning anything to us - he just stopped and got out.  It was cool to stand up and feel the wind push you back if you let go, and the scenery was gorgeous.  Right at the end two teenagers hopped up and held on to the back - hitching a ride as the driver couldn't see. 

We waited for a bus for awhile.  It was cold.  And we all just wanted to be home.  So after about the fifth offer, we decided to take a pickup truck to Latacunga, an hour and a half drive.  Four of us were in the cab and three of us were in the bed.  Right before we were about to leave, the driver's son decides to join us.  Where does he decide to sit?  The front seat.  Two people in the driver's seat.  We quickly had him join us in the back.  We were used to cramming people in from taxi rides and such slash we felt way more comfortable.  Craziest ride of my life.  They don't obey lanes, it got dark, this guy passed every car that he encountered (going around curves with no visibility... and a cliff on the other side, as these roads are literally carved out of mountain or hillsides) and then fog set in.  And he liked using his cell phone and playing with the radio.  Time to hug my backpack and close my eyes.  He literally tried to pass this one truck for five minutes.  He would tailgate, get up alongside, honk like crazy and then have to back off as a car was coming at us.  I think he wanted to get back home really badly and I feel bad if he caught on to how nervous we were - I'm sure he knew what he was doing, but putting our lives in someone else's hands on these roads was just a bit scary.  It seriously feels like a dream now.  I prefer taking the buses now.  You can just stare at your seat and not see the oncoming traffic.  But he got us there safe and very quickly.  We passed a bus and we thought it for sure was the group that left before us and we were going to laugh if we beat them home.  Our bus ride to Quito wasn't a whole lot better.  The movie they played was Kiss of Death, where one of the semi main characters dies in a head on collision.  Irony?  And so many people commute to party in Quito!  Drunk city.  But we made it home safely - we forced our cab to go all the way to our house.  We got inside and collapsed. Home sweet home.

This only ended up being a day trip and cost a little over $20 (cheapest weekend ever), but it was one of the prettiest places.  Well worth the hike and long commute.  When else would you commute over eight hours to stay somewhere for around five to six hours?  So many pictures, memories and good stories.

But we have been here for a month now.  Where does time go?  Two weeks left of school... 

Otavalo Buying Madness

Snow-capped Cotopaxi from the bus station right after sunrise

Otavalo markets - streets upon streets.  Very much a maze and hard to remember where you found items

We got to lovely Otavalo at 9:45 after a long ordeal at the bus station.  The lady that we bought the bus tickets from wasn't very nice to us at all -  we were supposed to be on a bus at six, but she told us we would have to wait until 7:45.  After we got slightly angry (being up that early probably didn't help) she told us we could get on a bus at 6:30, as the earlier bus had issues.  We waited for the bus for what seemed like forever for the bus and finally the lady that sold us the tickets told us that they would put us all in a car to otavalo for an extra fifty cents.  And promptly disappeared.  As we wondered whether or not we got ripped off, our bus finally came.  We paid fifty cents extra to get on our own bus??  But we were able to see a really clear view of Cotopaxi (a completely snowcapped mountain - we hadn't been able to see it before) and Pinchincha (one of the peaks in Quito) because it was just after the sunrise and the clouds hadn't descended yet.  And the full moon was bright and right above the mountain peaks and ridges.  I love the andes.

Otavalo was crazy! Once you got to the market area, there were just streets upon streets of vendors.  On the outskirts of the market there were many manufactured goods, including knockoff abercrombie, hollister and aeropostale.  We found michigan sweatshirts too.  There was one store that had at least five brands all in one place.  They have a fascination with American brands.  But then we got to the better part and the shopping commenced.  I found a ring, purse, bracelet and many many more items.  Much damage was done, but we figured this was the one time for us to buy souvenirs.  

We went to a pizza place for lunch and as always, we took the place over with fifteen people.  Moreover, fifteen gringos.  They came up and took pictures of us before we left.  Interesting?  We should go back and see if we have a tribute in their restaurant.

We got on two buses to go back to Quito - we almost left Caitlin yikes!  The bus was not going to wait, even as we kept begging them too.  So we got off once they stopped on the street and got on the next one.  Needless to say, we keep forgetting that Quito is a big metropolis and not every bus will go to our station.  We got off at an unfamiliar station and several moments later Alex (a tutor that was in a separate group coming home) stuck his head out of a bus and told us to catch one to go to Quitumbe (who knows how he saw us, but a bus was a lot better than our idea of taking a taxi as we were way in the north).  Thank goodness for Alex.  Someone heard and herded the clueless gringos in the right way.  An hour later we were home - we got dropped off right at our bus stop close to our house.  Homeeee