October 23rd:
So I began this week by missing two days of class and going to the hospital. I had been sick and throwing up for a few days, and on Tuesday night I passed out in the kitchen. It was crazy…I have three siblings total, two of whom speak better English than I do (but one of whom lives in England). So who comes to the hospital with me? My Spanish-only speaking mother and my one sister who has barely any English. Great, that’s helpful. So the doctors are asking questions and I don’t know what’s going on, only that I have to drink this horrible apple flavored Pedialyte (and I use the term “flavored” lightly). They said I was just dehydrated, which is possible, but then why would I have been throwing up and sleeping all day in the first place. I think I possibly have Giardia, and if I start to get bad again I am going to try and see a doctor (preferably one who is fluent in English). On Wednesday, my first day back, I find out that at seven the following morning, I have to leave for a mandatory overnight fieldtrip. Awesome. And so I went.


We went to La Zona Norte, which basically means a bunch of really small towns and villages North of Quito. We started at a house where the people produce pan pipes, which was interesting. Except one of the guys demoed how to make a pan pipe for us and it took him all of three minutes, which means that the eight dollars that they cost is ridiculous. They also played some traditional music for us, and overall it was really cool. Then in Otavallo we went to the famous waterfall, and hiked up to the top. It was pretty cool; there was a cave and really good views. From there, we went to the crater lake that feeds the waterfall and went out on the lake in a boat. It was unbelievably beautiful…totally untouched and crystal clear. After that we had lunch in Cotocatchi which was gross, and went to a museum there, which was boring. I think CIMAS thinks that they’re being really generous by getting us guides at all the museums, but in reality they just end up rushing us through and telling us about things in words that I at least don’t understand, and I feel like I never learn or get to enjoy the museums. After the museum, we drove to San Clemente, which is a small village above Ibarra (a relatively big city) and below Imbabura, the volcano. We spent the night with an indigenous family, and it was totally amazing. The mom made us dinner, which was good if you like traditional Ecuadorian food, which I do not. Then we dressed in traditional clothing and danced around with them in this traditional circle dance thing…it was really fun. The next morning, we got up and ate breakfast, and then had to sit through a conference about the development program in the village. It was incredibly boring. And then, we had to go on this hike to learn about medicinal plants in the region. It was not the most fun day ever, but I have some amazing pictures. We stopped for ice cream on the way home and I had what is possibly the best coconut ice cream in the world. And now I am home, and just waiting for dinner. After that, it’s bedtime for sure…
This weekend, instead of traveling like usual, we are just going to stay in Quito and do the Teleferiqo and then a hike on Pichincha. It should be interesting. And next weekend we are going on a long trip (Wednesday to Monday) to Cuenca because they have some sort of festivals going on. It’s an eight hour bus ride, but it should be fun.