Weekend Travels

What a busy and amazing weekend. I went with 5 friends to Otavalo, a Quichua ( indigenous) community 3 hours north of Quito. It costs $2.50 for a 3 hour bus ride! AH! Everything is so cheap here. I feel bad for my friends studying in Europe, bet they´re pinching pennies. Or euros. Anyway, there is a famous artisan market every Saturday in Otavalo, so we did some bartering. I got a futbol (soccer) jersey so I´m not the only one in Ecuador not wearing yellow on game day. Futbol = life. I also got some jewelry and a new scarf, and a present for my (real) mom. My souveniers are going to be awesome, just you wait till christmas.

So in Otavalo we:
- climbed a mountain, just because
- talked to an indegenous man on the street about his life (5 of his 11 children died within the first year of their life)
- went to an amazing waterfall and rock climbed to the top
- met a bunch of europeans and chatted and danced with them

I should have pictures from the otavalo adventure soon. When I got home from Otavalo, I had 7 cents. THAT is budgeting. I´m thankful it´s easy to travel here (maybe not safe, but easy) so I´ll get to see quite a lot of the country. I´m currently in the process of choosing my internship location, where I will teach English for 5 weeks. That´s not until October though.

Friday we visited Quito central, and toured the presidential palace!! That is like touring the white house. It was amazing. It is cool to be in Ecuador right now, because the country is voting on a new constitution soon (september 28). The whole country is polarized. I know it doesnt get any publicity in the USA, but Latin American politics are shifting in a dramatic way right now. Luckily the opposition in Ecuador isn´t incredibly violent. The new constitution will definitely help the broken political system, I have read and studied it closely taking into account Ecuador´s history. Right now the government has no power to do anything, including basics like administer justice and register citizens. However, the Catholic Church is an incredibly political body here and is (hate to say it), brainwashing many of the citizens by inserting their "moral authority" into the political realm. The Church is totally entrenched in money and politics. This is a gross generalization, but while the Church is strongly against the Constitution, indigenous people, women, the disenfranchised, homosexuals, etc. are really supporting it.

Things with my host mom are getting a little better. Going away for a weekend helped. I think we´re coming to an understanding of the food issue. She´s taking me to her women's crafting group every Thursday. This week we´re painting. Me and a bunch of grandmas painting, sweet! I like it a lot.

I am settling more into a routine. MSID kids are awesome, I am meeting great people. I feel like I can actually understand some of the cultural complexities-- why is this country so poor, so dirty, so crazy all the time, so loving and beautiful?