This morning very angry dogs at the neighbors place were my alarm clock. I had breakfast with my momma. She made me eggs and a very nice tea. I have never tried tea before but it was very good. She says that tea is the thing in Ecuador and that it is “muy bien” for you! After breakfast I began my long trek to school. It was a beautiful morning out. Everyone was wearing a light jacket but not me. I looked like the tourist with just a T-shirt on and I’m glad I did. Class started at 8:30 and by the time I got there, I was dripping sweat. Being in high altitude we’re closer to the sun so I was also fried when I got to school as well. Like I said though, it was a beautiful morning. We had about an hour and a half of class and then took taxis to a museum that focused on the artifacts of the indigenous groups in different time periods of Ecuador. It was very interesting to see the differences in the artifacts between the groups and times. We finished up with that a half an hour early and since I was still recovering from my trek, I decided to stay in the centro to have lunch with some friends. I had a delicious meal for only $4! Everything in Cuenca is so cheap. Earlier I had gotten 2 bags of chips, a bottle of water, and a ham sandwich for $3. Back in the U.S. the 2 bags of chips would’ve been $3. We got back to school to take our ID card photos. I made my picture look like a mug shot. We then went to another museum. This museum had life size exhibits of all the indigenous groups in each region of Ecuador. It was very interesting to see especially the houses they lived in because those houses looked like they were crazy to build with so much attention to detail. We also saw some of the Incan ruins that are connected to the museum. There was also a sweet bird rescue center next to the ruins. There were all different types of birds that included parrots and tucans. To top off this very busy day we had a tour of Cuenca. We saw plazas, churches, markets, and different landmarks to help us with directions. When we walked through one of the food markets we saw all different types of vegetables and fruits. The whole place smelt delicious until we got into the raw meat section. The meat looked really good but I can’t imagine buying that when it’s been lying out all day long. We got back to school and I made my sweaty journey back home. Momma made me a delicious meal, we had a conversation through some language and sign language, I did some homework, and then went to bed. Overall it was a long day but I’m very excited to continue my journey through Cuenca.
