Otavalo

Welcome to our humble abode. We are now in Otavalo, Ecuador, and this is our quaint little cabin on Puertolago. We had an early flight yesterday, but it was only 35 minutes long. The best part of the flight was our eSnack time. I'm really obsessed with these Nestle Coco cracker/cookie things, and it was our lucky day!

The worst part of the trip was when we got SCAMMED at the airport. As we were loading our stuff onto the big tourism bus at the airport in Quito, some guys were acting like they were hired help, offering to load our stuff. I was still waiting for my luggage inside the airport when this all happened, so I missed it. But my friend got her backpack stolen with her money, passport, laptop, camera, scriptures...pretty much her whole life in there! It was so sad, and I felt sick that it all happened. She had such a good attitude about it and realized there wasn't anything to do about it besides report it to the police. It was a good wakeup call for all of us; I think we'll all be a lot more cautious.

We drove a few hours to Otovalo to do some shopping in the big open market place. TONS of stuff. Everyone kept getting lost in how big it was. It's the center for shopping in Ecuador because everyone brings in their crafts, jewelry, blankets, fruit, etc. This part of the country is very different than Guayaquil...more indigenous, more farming, weather is cooler, lots of mountains. It's so pretty! On our drive here we listened to some Andean Beatles, Phil Collins, and Frank Sinatra. Andean as in like pan flutes...so funny, but I actually like it!

These pictures are really messed up on my blog, but the picture in the middle is of a guy packing up his tent after the market thing. SO BIG! Those are so heavy and little old ladies carry them around too!