The first couple of days here in Ecuador have been eventful. We arrived in Quito on Thursday night after three flights to get here. After getting off the plane, I feel like I definitely noticed the altitude difference since we are at around 8,000 ft. It definitely didn't feel like sea level anymore, but now I don't notice it. At the airport we met a guy named Heiko who is a German missionary here in Ecuador. He picked us up and took us in his van to Cotacachi, the town we are staying at. It's about a two hour drive from Quito. The drive was kinda exhilarating. We went through windy hills to get here and had to pass many trucks and semis while crossing double yellow lines. The van is pretty clunky, so the drive was quite the experience, especially at night. We arrived in Cotacachi at about 11pm and Heiko showed us where we are staying. Adam and I are staying at an apartment and the girls are sleeping in a church.
Yesterday, we went around the town of Cotacachi and saw the market and many of the shops. There definitely is a lot of leather products here. Maybe I'll come home with a new leather jacket. During these couple of days, Heiko has basically been showing us around, but we should expect to spend more time with the Ecuadorians soon. We also went to a town called Ibarra which is about 40 minutes from Cotacachi and went to an amazing viewpoint which is where the pics above are taken from. The landscape here is definitely beautiful and there is a lot to see. Earlier today, we went to another town about 20 minutes from Cotacachi called Otavalla, where we got to go to the largest Indian street market in South America. I would say that this is probably the coolest market I have ever been to. They have really interesting products such as Ecuadorian sweaters, blankets, wood carvings, Indian daggers, beautiful paintings, hammocks and much more.
Overall, I am really enjoying Cotacachi. It is probably my favorite town out of the ones I've seen so far. I like the small size and it makes it easy to walk around and the volcanoes surrounding it are beautiful. It's very charming. Although, the past couple of days here in Cotacachi are considered kind of dangerous because there is an Indigenous festival going on where people dance and march up and down the streets while drunk. Sometimes they fight too. Also, the weather here is nice. It gets warm during the day with a mix of clouds and sun but pretty cold at night. For the next couple of weeks we should expect to be starting to teach English and work at a kids camp. Also, we will get to eventually work in a home of an Ecuadorian family doing various tasks. More to come later!
