Ecuador Group - Blog #1
by Sheila Grantham and Benny Michaud
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Life in Otavalo, Ecuador:
We arrived in Otavalo on Sunday, August 13th. The ride here was very bumpy and many people were not feeling very well on the bus ride up, but you can ask to further elaborate! Once in Otavalo, we were loaded into the back of a hay truck and whizzed around the town dropping people off at their host families houses. Benny was first to be dropped off along with Farrah and Katey (at their Ecuadorian mansion!) And Allison and I were the last to be dropped off.
Once we were dropped off we realized how different life was here in Ecuador. For example, breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered at different times and are completly different meals. Within Benny´s house they eat lunch at noon and supper at 10pm (be sure not to mention fritadas upon her return!). For breakfast Alison and I usually eat soup and our lunch will normally be the same thing. Also, lunch is a much bigger meal then any other meal.
Some of the places where the participants are staying offer warm water, but the place where Alison and I are staying only have cold water- so are showers are few and far between.
There have been some language barriers- but all the families have been soo accomodating and kind. For many, sign language has become the language of choice. I´m hoping by the end of the trip we will have learned a lot from eachother.
Last night it was Katy´s birthday and we were all dying for Western food, so we ended up going to a place that offered pizza. Honestly at that moment it was the best pizza I have ever had! There was a band who played ´´happy birthday´´ for Katy as we all sang along. After they tried to rip us off, when they were selling us CD´s. They tried to get Ginny to pay more for her CD, claiming she didn´t pay- but later we realized Ginny did not even have a CD within the case!
All the participants are located in different parts of the community so we don´t get to see eachother all that often- I´m glad we had a reason to all meet up last night. It gave us a chance to reflect upon our journey thus far and laugh!
That is all for now.
Sheila Grantham and Benny Michaud
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