It was another intesting day in Otovalo. We had our last Spanish class this morning as well as a birthday party for our teacher, Juan. The cakes here have a very interesting frosting on them that tastes like merigue. It was deliciouso. We went to another Shaman ceremony this afternoon and watched a diagnois with the guinea pig and a healing ceremony. It was quite amazing outdoors in a valley with natural mineral springs. Dale was pelted with a cuy (guinea pig) to absorb all of the sickness inside her. The Shamana disected the cuy and told Dale about all of her maladies and the remedies for them. She noticed that the liver in the cuy did not look healthy and told Dale that she should not eat chocolate for a whole month. After the diagnois there was a cleansing ceremony that involved the Shamana drinking a sacred beverage and spitting it all over Dale´s body to cleanse her of any bad spirits. After the spitting and prayers, Dale dipped herself in the mineral spring and submerged. The Quichua family that was helping the Shamana with the ceremony lit a fire and then cleansed Dale with smoke. The last part of the cleansing was another egg rub. The Shamana rubbed eggs all over Dale´s body to pull out the bad spirits. When she first started, she let Dale listen to the egg, and she heard the yolk rattle. After it was rubbed all over, it did not have any sound because it had absorbed all of the bad spirits. The ceremony was an intesting mix of indigenous beliefs and Catholic beliefs. There were prayers to god and blessings of the people participating in the ceremony. I took lots of pictures and got a sunburn.

Yesterday was not as exotic, but just as interesting. We had the morning off of school because it was Sunday and went to a weaver´s workshop in the morning. They clean the sheep wool and then card it so the fibers all run in the same direction. After the fibers are rolled into a tube, they are spun into yarn. The yarn is dyed with natural dyes and then it is woven on a backstrap loom that has been used in Ecuador for hundreds of years. On our way to another small Quichua town, we ran into an Inti Raymi parade. Inti Raymi is a festival that coincides with the Fiesta de San Pedro or St. Peter´s Festival. When Catholicism came to Ecuador with the conquistadors, the indigenous people had their own interpretation of the beliefs because they did not speak Spanish. They worshipped the mountain before they knew about Catholicism and created a character, Inti Raymi, that has four ears so he can hear everything, two faces so he is always looking to the mountain god, and snakes coming out of his head to symbolize wisdom. The men dressed as Inti Raymi danced in the streets with bands and other groups of dancers dressed in their traditional clothes. It was a lot of fun! We went to a Quichua museum later in the morning and learned a lot more about the Quichua way of life and their respect for the environment around them. We ate a typical lunch of chicken, pork, quinoa and potato soup, mote (steamed corn), and juice. It was delicious, but Marge and I think that Monica, our host mother, cooks much better! They showed us the house where they keep their cuy and feed them alfalfa and fresh fruit everyday. The Quichua believe that cuy are a powerful animal and take a lot of care so when they cook them for guests, it is a showing of their respect and honor of the guest. We made a quick stop at the end of the night at an ice cream shop. The make ice cream differently in Ecuador, they take pure fruit juice and put it in a pot that has ice and rock salt underneath. They stir the juice by hand and turn the pan quickly until it turns into ice cream. It is called helado en paillo or ice cream in a pan! I tried guayabana and narajilla flavors- only found in South America! We had a surprise when we arrived back at home, Gallo and Monica had been to a fiesta for friends who were confirmed. They brought home a huge pan of three chickens and a cuy! They offered it to Marge and I to try and we said sure. It was grilled and still had its head- you could see the teeth. We were offered a leg, which is a high honor because it is the most valued part. Surprise- it tasted like rich chicken!