Today we got to visit the Incan ruins of Ingapirca. Before we got there though we stopped at a market in Canar. This was by far the biggest market I have ever seen. They had so much fruit and veggies. We are still very hesitant to eat anything though because no one wants to get sick. I can confidentially say that out of 15 people in my class, I’m one of the only ones that hasn’t gotten sick (knock on wood). Not only did they have fruits and veggies but they also had live chickens, guinea pigs, puppies, and rabbits. It was absolutely crazy! There were probably about 70 people that were in two lines and we walked right in between them. They all had sacks that carried the animals in them except for the puppies.. thank god. I was very curious and looked into every sack. It was almost like a party in this market but then I realized this is their life. They sell these things to people that can help out their farms or in the guinea pigs case, eat them.
We then reached the ruins and began our tour with a slight drizzle coming down. The Incas always built in the shapes of animals, which I thought was very fascinating. We took some great photos of everyone in the rain and did a little shopping at the stores they had there. On the way back to Cuenca we stopped at a massive church that was up on the side of a mountain. Someone counted 145 stairs to the top. These were not your normal stairs, these were stairs that went straight up!! Talk about some elevation hitting you. At the top it was so worth it though, such a pretty church and view.
I arrived back home after the long day and was excited to sit down and head to bed early but as soon I walked through the door my host brother asks if I want to play soccer with him tonight with some of his friends. Am I going to say no to that? Absolutely not!! Off I went then to play soccer. It was about 8 at night when we arrived at the field. It was a turf field that had a tall fence all the way around it. I was so jacked to play but also nervous to play with other guys that I don’t even understand. The rain started to come down pretty good but no one cared at all. It was a lot of fun playing with them because not all of them play all the time but they have a passion for the game like me. But I tell ya what, you can really feel the 8,500 foot elevation when you start sprinting around. At the end of the game, it felt like I had lost 10 pounds. I ended up scoring 2 pretty sneaky goals that made them all laugh. I really enjoyed it and plan on doing it again next Sunday.
