Hello all! Its been so long since we have updated the BLOG! Lots to fill in! Michelle G and I are sitting here together trying to reflect on everything so we don´t leave ANYTHING out!!!!!! Here goes...
WEDDING. Marcelo, the brother of our host dad, Marcos. He married for the second time in a traditional white church wedding. To be honost, it was slightly boring since everything was in rapid Spanish and little could be understood. Also, we didn´t know the bride or groom. We threw rice at the bride and proceeded to the fiesta where we danced the night away and drank some whisky scotch. Michelle G is already a pro dancer and I picked up a few moves myself. Since the wedding Ive been looking for some more opportunities to test out my new moves, and finally, the time came a week later.
BUT FIRST! Work. Has been great. I found out my favorite kid, Johel, is actually named JON. Things at the center have been really fun. We love the kids so much and hug them and kiss them all the time. We go on little excursions to the laguna San Pablo, which is accross the street and to äribba¨,which just means UP and refers to the field behind the center. Even though its a short walk, it usually takes us 45 minutes to get all the kids accross the street and to the final destination. Especially since lots of kids stop and bathroom it up on the side path. You know, the usual. Last week, we went arriba and one of the other teachers got a bad stomach spirit from one of the rocks in the area. The indigenous people believe there are fleeting spirits that inhabit different natural objects throughout the day. If you touch one while it is inhabited by a spirit, you catch the bad spirit...thus, the stomach ache.
Naiffe, one of the little girls, had a BAD fever and was really sick last week. We were all scared because she is so tiny and fragile and you never know what kind of care the kids get at home...Most of the kids live with their grandparents because the parents are in Colombia´s less saturated craft market since Otavalo has a really competative craft market.
LAST WEEKEND! BANOS! We went to Banos, a city in the central Sierra, that is famous for hot thermal springs and adventure tourism. We got a taste for everything even though it rained on our ONLY full day there! We biked on a crazy mountain road through pouring rain. THe path led to some 5 waterfalls, but we only made it to one! Short as it was, we felt the burn and were thouroughly satisfied to yield to Mother Nature.
We checked out a few delicious and cheap veggie restaurants in town and dipped in some extremely crowded hot thermal springs. They smelled like Eucalyptus! At night, we made our way in a ¨party¨bus to the top of the Banos volcano. It was very foggy so we were unable to see any spouting fire. This specific volcano, if Im not mistaken, is a part of the RING OF FIRE so we were especially bumbed to yield to ma nature this time round. Nevertheless, we had a good time with some Americans, Puerto Ricans and a man from Ecuador that we shared the party bus with. We drank some canelzo...which is an alchohol made from sugar cane that grows right in Banos. After the volcano, we headed to the VOlCAN discoteca where I was finally able to try out some sweet moves in my hiking attire. It was a satisfying eve and we all had fun.
The next morning we hiked up a mountain to a canopy tour where we zoomed across a massive ravine from mountain top to mountain top, and over a crashing THRASHING crazy river. EXTREME!!!!!!!!!! I am, and I shall continue to be. Scardy cat Mazzeo is a shadow of the past, I am now EXTREMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Speaking of EXTREEEEEEEEEME, Gorzek and I expect to climb Ibarra Mountain this Friday before heading off for a final HURRAH on the Coast of Ecuador. LOVE to you all. Only a short 9 days till we are HOME in the good ol´ US of A.
