Only in Ecuador

After picking up Hannah in Quito, we headed north to Otavalo, which has Ecuador´s biggest and best market. With only a brief walk by the market after getting off the bus, we knew we would no longer be able to resist the urge to buy souvenirs. We would have to make room in our tiny backpacks for at least one Alpaca sweater (an extremely practical purchase).

After perusing the market, we had a slice of blackberry pie at a pie shop (the first I have ever seen in Latin Amerca) while we watched the beginning of a futbol game on TV. Since futbol is to Ecuador as basically all other sports are to the US, we knew we would find a group of Ecuadorans watching the game somewhere in town. We quickly found them--a group of architecture students who had just attended a conference in Otavalo, cheering loudly at a bar. Since both the teams were from Quito, we asked the group of future architects what the difference was between the teams. They told us the jersey color...At least no one seemed too upset with the outcome of the game.

Our next stop was Ambato, where there was a reggaeton festival we had seen advertised across the country. Given our slight obsession with reggaeton (go here for an example of reggaeton), we knew we had to attend. Plus, we recently made some friends who are from Ambato, Oscar and Julio (we prefered the English translation of July).

Upon arriving in Ambato, we were picked up by Oscar, our voluntary tour guide, in a taxi and taken to a cheap, safe hostal--something which we would not have found without his help, because Ambato is definitely off of the traveler´s path and consequently is given merely sentences of descriptions in Lonely Planet. That night we were carted around by July and Oscar to buy concert tickets and get dinner at the centro comercial´s food court, which is exactly like any mall you would find in the suburban US. We also went to a reggae concert before which we received our first salsa lessons in the country. We are basically professionals now.

The highly-anticipated reggaeton concert turned out not to be the highlight of the weekend. We sat in the equator-strength sun for hours listening to amature performers before the main groups came on stage. Even after all that waiting we decided to leave the concert early to grab some pizza.¨Only in Ecuador,¨ said Oscar. A phrase we continued to use throughout the weekend and everyday after that.

We are now in Cuenca, one of the most beautiful cities in Ecuador. There are mercados and heladerias (ice cream shops) abound. Today we visited an incredible national park and tomorrow we are going to see some Incan ruins.

Pictures to come.