Eat, Drink, Dance, Bike, Wander, Make New Friends, and Be Forever Merry!

Buenos Días desde Quito, Ecuador! I am so happy to be in one place - even though I went out of town this past weekend and have another trip or two planned. It's great to be able to take my time to explore the city, eat normal meals, run/walk through the park, eat my favorite cheese-filled, sugar coated empanadas, visit with old friends, go out dancing, and return to the same (albeit cockroach-infested) bed each night.

Last week, I hung out in Quito and spent my days wandering around the city and nights hanging out with Ivo and Luisfer. It's so crazy to me how so much time has passed since we last saw each other, yet to be together again feels like no time has passed at all. And oh so fun to remember our lives together 4 years ago - climbing volcanoes, biking to waterfalls, dancing salsa, playing soccer - so much fun! And I really like Quito. It is a pretty city with a big, beautiful park perfect for running (or trying to run), tons of places to eat high or low, and so much energy. So each day after the boys got off work, we went to eat or see a movie or dance salsa or just sit in their - comfortable, but mildly disgusting due to roach-infestation - apartment and catch up on life.

This past weekend, Ivo headed home to Guayaquil to celebrate Father's Day with his fam, so Luisfer and I ventured to the indigenous town of Otavalo in the Northern Highlands to get a good breath of fresh air and explore the great outdoors. While I had been to Otavalo - which is famous for its Saturday crafts market - a few times the year I lived here, Luisfer had never ventured much otuside of the big cities of Quito and Guayaquil, much less taken part in mountain biking or even hiking. Since I LOVE la naturaleza and almost any activity that involves being in and experiencing the great outdoors, I was thrilled to travel to Otavalo and expose my dear friend to such activities.

So off we headed bright and early on Saturday morning to the small, but lively town of Otavalo surrounded by three hulking volcanoes, countless lakes, and many tiny indigenous communities. Upon arrival, we also discovered that the biggest and most important festival of the year is right around the corner - Día de San Juan during which much dancing, drinking of chicha and eating of cuy (guinea pig) takes place. The actual festejando begins on Wed, but there were many people in town in anticipation of the events. We spent Saturday afternoon biking to a nearby waterfall, and then along the old railroad tracks to the nearby towns of Peguche and Iluman. That night we danced the night away with locals - and something Luisfer and I both found quite interesting was that the indigenous females went out to the discos in their traditional dress and danced alongside the guys and gals dressed to the nines like it was no strange thing... - and gringos until 3 AM when we returned to our comfy lodging and promptly passed out.

Biking along the Railroad tracks outside of Otavalo.

Sunday, after a very very lazy morning, we headed out on a dirt road toward La Fuente de Salud - some thermal baths I read about that sounded pretty. We decided to take the "scenic route" - i.e. we got lost. But one is never lsot for too long in Latin America. Especially in small towns. We asked around and made our way toward the baths through indigenous famrland making friends with loacls every 5 minutes or so as we asked passersby headed to and from the market if we were in fact headed towards the baths. We consistently got response such as "4 blocks more and then turn left" in a place where you would be hard pressed to figure out what exactly defines a block (we were in teh middle of farmland, after all! Or, my favorite, "30 minutes more and you are there" when, in fact, we would find ourselves walking for at least a good hour. I really have yet to figure out latinos concept of time.

But as we wandered up and down, scrambling down steep hillsides and crossing rivers, we came upon a lovely and incredibly friendly indigenous family en route to their father's house who either took pity on us or really wanted to make some new friends, who not only gave us directions to the baths, but accompanied us. Really? Were they SURE they wanted to go out of their way?!? They seemed sure. So off we went, chatting about life in Otavalo, speaking Quichua (the indigenous language), typical foods (guinea pig, blood and potato soup), and the size, ages, and marital status of each and every member of our families. I love experiences like this! In the end, the baths were not much more than a hole filled with yellowish-colored water, but the company was fantastic and we ended up being invited to the father's house were we were invited to spend the night if we ever found ourselves out that way again.

Our new friends!

We ended the night eating quimbolitos (sweet corn tamales) and humitos prepared by a local woman in the street market. I have decided that these sweet tasty treats are my new favorite food in the world and we both considered staying another night just to be able to eat more!

These things are so delicious!!

There is a chance we make make our way back to Otavalo on Wednesday and take our new friends up on the offer to spend a few days celebrating the fiestas with them. But for now, work called Luisfer home, so we flagged down a Quito-bound bus and bumped our way back to the hustle and bustle of the big ciudad. I am happy and healthy and appreciative for good friends in far away places:). VIVA!