End of first week. in Otavalo

I've loaded photos to my Picasso site:  http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510  Here is further explanation of the activities

On Friday, November 13, for our four hour morning Spanish lesson, Adrienne, Czarina, Janine and I, with both of our Spanish teachers, Fernando & Rocia, hiked about 4 km to a very old tree called El Lechero. This tree is to the east of Otavalo on the top of a hill looking down the other side to Lake San Pablo. There is a legend about this tree and the lake San Pablo in the valley below it. They say there was a pair of young lovers whose parents did not want them to be tighter and he was changed into the tree and she into the lake. They are forever near each other, but not together. (Pretty basic story, but it was told in Spanish and that is what I got from it!) The name of the tree refers to the type of tree it is and not to the legend. When cut, the sap of the tree is like milk (leche; lechero being a milk container). After taking a break at the tree- which included “no English, only Spanish” conversation – we headed down the hill to the north. We ended up coming around to the creek, above the waterfalls that we hiked to on Wednesday. We then hit the same trail and then road back into Otavalo. It was a beautiful hike, and luckily it was overcast, so not quite as hot as it can be. Of course, I was covered in greasy sunblock, sweat and dust when I got back and was in desperate need of a shower!


On Saturday, November 14, the same four of us got up early and went to the Mercado de Animales – the animal market. It was a great reminder that our meats don’t just come in styraphome and plastic containers in the meat section of the supermarket. The market was sectioned of by the different animals for sale: cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, chicks, guinea pigs and the sellers stood around with their animals on ropes or in boxes while buyers wandered between them checking out the animals. There was an area to one side of booths of food being cooked and served – quite a mix of smells for our early morning, empty stomachs.

We then walked into the downtown area of Otavalo and met up with Johnny and our guide to go horseback riding. We piled into the back of a pickup truck and rode about 20 minutes up into the hills southwest of Otavalo – in the opposite direction of our previous hikes. We rode about an hour each way, partly on the road we had just driven on – to a beautiful two-tiered waterfall. I have bruises on the inside of both legs but the ride was worth it because we went through little pueblos and past individual farm houses that we would not have been able to see otherwise. I didn’t feel comfortable taking a picture though of one scene: it looked like the entire pueblo was involved in taking rocks from the river to be hauled away. There were 3-5 groups of people getting the rocks out of the stream and putting them in piles on the “road”. There was a pick-up truck at the first pile with a number of men putting the rocks into the back. Of course I don’t know what the rocks were going to be used for, but I have to wonder if it wasn’t for “paving” some of the roads, as the roads in the countryside are cobblestone.

Today, Sunday, I am recuperating and taking it easy this morning. It has taken quite a bit of time to label the photos and write this blog entry – don’t know if I will have time to do this every weekend! Also, I seem to have eaten something that my stomach wasn’t ready for, so I am sitting here taking Pepto-Bismol tablets and drinking water to stay hydrated. I’ll see what happens when I eat lunch! This afternoon I hope to upload my photos from the past week and post this blog before going to the market with the other volunteers to shop for the groceries for the lunches for the students at the schools this week. I will start at my school in Huayarpungo on Monday with Tracey, the program coordinator and then will be on my own starting on Wednesday! I’m a bit nervous about it, but hopefully will feel more confident after tomorrow.

I’ve found out some more details about my schedule. I will have the week off between Christmas and New Years and will also have 2 weeks off between leaving Otavalo and reporting to Peru. Machu Pichu is not included in this program, so will need to do it during that time. I don’t know the exact dates yet of those two weeks, but will find out soon. I am thinking I will try to do a jungle trip in December, and then the Galapagos and Machu Pichu during that time. My visa for Ecuador runs out on February 3, so I must be out of the country by February 2, but if I use up all that time, then my return flight from Quito in May will be a problem as I can’t come back into the country as I can’t get another visa for some x number of days. Anyway, will start looking at tours and plans for all three of these events.

Anyone interested in joining me? Amazonian Jungle, Galapagos or Machu Pichu????? If so, let me know right away!