Today was an exciting day even though there was not as much gore!  We started our day early at 7:00am and went to the animal market where the local people come to sell live animals.  There were chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, goats, and horses.  Even more interesting than watching the animals, was watching the people.  The Quichua people dress differently depending on where they are from and every style of dress is interesting and beautiful.  After the first market, we stopped for a special treat- hot bread from wood-burning ovens!  There are only two ovens in the city of Otovalo and this bakery is very special.  The bakery makes 8,000 rolls a day!  They started making the dough at midnight and when you visit early in the morning, you can get hot rolls.  MMmmmmmm. 

Later in the morning, we went to famous crafts market in Otovalo.  Our Spanish teacher, Juan, took us around and helped us to barter for a good price on things.  You can see a picture of Juan in our classroom above.  We saw beautiful handicrafts and I bought a charrango, small guitar, and a Quichua blouse.  We had fun looking at all of the handicrafts and the people. 

After a big lunch, we went to the crater lakes and hiked at 10,00ft elevation.  The views were amazing.  It is possible to see where the volcano had erupted and then filled with water.  The fresh air felt very good.  I hope everything is well for everyone at home!

Wow!  It has been an amazing time these past two days.  Yesterday, we had Spanish class and after a large lunch (lunch is the main meal of the day and is served around 1:30pm), we went to the Peguche falls and hiked up the nearby mountains.  The greenery is very lush and there were Kichwa (indigenous people near Otovalo)  villages all around.  We saw a woman doing her laundry in the river and many houses have gardens, cornfields, and farm animals nearby.   Later in the afternoon, we visted the Parque Condor (Condor Park) and watched a flying demonstration of many of the birds of prey that are rescued at the park.  They flew an eagle, hawk, falcon, and kestrel around the mountain, and each time they released the birds, they came back for food.  It was an amazing view over the mountain and the birds were beautiful. 

Today was even more interesting.  We went to the market with our Spanish teacher and bought fruit that cannot be found in the US.  We tried limoncello, guayaba, granadilla, and pepino.  Each had a very interesting taste and smell.  The guayaba always contains grubs, but Juan said that they are edible.    We also tried caracoles (small snails) that were boiled with onion and lime.  Very salty tasting!  After a large lunch  (please take note for later in the story), we went to a clinic that uses western medicine and native Kichwa medicine.  A Shamana (female shaman) did a diagnostic ceremony on Cindy and Evan, two teachers traveling with our group.  The Shawana began the ceremony by choosing a guinea pig.  It was female so she had Cindy go first.  She rubbed the guinea pig all over Cindy´s body to take the spirits or bad health and have it enter the guinea pig.  After a lot of spiriting, she cut the guinea pig open to see what problems it has because those are the same as the person receiving the treatment.   The intestines were still moving when she examined them, which points to parasites.  Evan received the ceremony with a male guinea pig and after opening up the pig, she said that he has lots of problems with his back.  He said that this was true because he had injured his spine in the military.  I had a pretty weak stomach through this whole ceremony, but many others in my group took pictures.  The woman holding the mop in the above photo is Doña Juana the Shamana.  She has been practicing native medicine for many years.  It was a very interesting experience.

I have very much enjoyed staying with my host family.  The boys are on vacation for July and August from school and ride their bikes a lot.  The family runs a hostel above their home and Gallo owns a Papeleria (paper shop) where he sells school supplies.  Most of the shopping in Otovalo is done at the local outdoor market and at small shops.  It is fascinating to see the Kichwa people and the mestizos (mixed Spanish and indigenous) all shopping together even though their home lives are very different.  I hope to learn a lot more about the culture in my time here.

We have arrived in Otovalo and are staying with host families.  My family includes Gallo, (the father) Monica, (the mother) Santiago and Luis (the children).  They are very hospitable and Monica makes wonderful food.  For lunch (the largest meal in Ecuador), we ate Sancocho, a soup made from pork, corn, and lime juice, as well as baked chicken, rice and vegetables.  Last night, Marge and I played cards with the boys and learned the word, tramposo or cheater!  Today, we began our Spanish lessons and I have been placed in the intermediate class.  Wow- I have a lot to learn!  This afternoon was amazing as we traveled to the nearby village of Peguche were mostly Quicha people live.  The woman in the photo to the left is making a pallo or pan flute.  Her family danced and sang for our group and made beautiful music.  I bought a CD and some instruments as well.  We also saw a weaver´s workshop and all of the beautiful handicrafts of the Quicha people.  The weaver had all of his designs stored in his memory- nothing is written down.  Yesterday was also quite interesting as we stopped at ¨Mitad del Mundo¨ or the equator as it is known in the US.  I learned how to shoot an Amazonian blowgun and saw a shrunken head!  The Waorani people use blowguns to hunt and put a sedative on the tips of the arrows to stun their prey.  They kill the animal after shooting it down with a blowgun.  We stood right on the equator and learned that water swirls clockwise in the northern hemisphere when it goes down the drain and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere.  When a sink was placed right on the equator, the water went straight down the drain- amazing.  I imagine that there are many more adventures ahead.

Our first day in Quito was a lot of fun.  We went to a museum with arts and crafts from all of the indigenious people of Ecuador.  We saw pottery, instruments, jewelry, and clothing.  I bought a blowgun in the gift shop!  The next stop was the Guayasamin Museum.  He was a remarkable artist from Quito who collected lots of Ecuadorian art.  He portrayed the poverty and discrimination of the indigenious people of Ecuador in his art.  In the picture to the left, I am standing in front of some public art near our hotel.  The food is excellent- we have already eaten fried plantains and lots of tropical fruit.  I had a milkshake made from Araza, a tropical fruit with very sweet juice.  The afternoon included walks around the Plaza de San Francisco and Plaza Grande.  We visited a beautiful church called La Igelisia del Compania and visited the Virgin of Quito, a two hundred foot statue overlooking the city.  The last activity of the evening was taking a cable car ride or teleferrico up to the top of one of the mountains overlooking Quito.  Quito´s elevation is 9,000 ft and we went up to 10,400 ft.  It was a beautiful view, but it was so cloudy at the top that I didn´t get a good picture.  ¡Que buen dia!

It is 9:30pm and after a long day of travel, the group has made it to Quito.  I woke up at 4:00am in Detroit and we had a 5 hour layover in Miami- what a day!  Tomorrow includes a tour of Quito- new town and old town, and lots of Ecuadorian food!  There is lots of excitment ahead.

Tomorrow, I head over to Detroit for one night and then Sunday morning we leave for Quito, Ecuador. I am almost packed with everything from 98% Deet mosquito repellent for the Amazon to a fleece jacket for the Andes. I have packed sunscreen, a nice sun hat (thank you, Brenda!) and a voice recorder to collect some folksongs with (thank you, Jim!). I am excited for the adventures that lay ahead. The weather in South Bend is 74 degrees today and in Quito it is fore casted to be 66 degrees with a low of 48 degrees. I find it amazing that it is warmer in the Midwest than it is right near the equator! In contrast, the humidity in South Bend is 30% while the humidity in Coca, Ecuador (Amazon rainforest) is 94% with a temperature of 71 degrees! Hopefully, I am packed and ready for all kinds of weather.

Overseas travel requires a lot of preparation. Luckily for me, the itinerary and reservations have already been made so I am left with the chore of packing. My to-do list and shopping list grow a little bit everyday. I have already purchased Merrell Aqua shoes and “Bug Off” clothes for the Amazon (they have mosquito repellent in them). I still need to finish my packing list and get my anti-malaria medication from the pharmacy. There is a risk of many diseases in the Amazon so I had to get four shots at the health department to prevent Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, and Tetanus. My arm is still a little sore, but I will be safe from the biting bugs. Tomorrow’s to-do list includes finding travel-sized everything!

I recently attended the orientation for my upcoming trip to Ecuador at Michigan State University. This was my first trip to Lansing and I was very impressed with the University. The campus is beautiful and the city offers so much to its residents. I was even more impressed with the orientation for the Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad to Ecuador. I met people from Ecuador who are now living in Michigan, students who traveled through Ecuador, and educators who would like to see students gain a bigger world view in order to compete in a global marketplace. The orientation helped give me a better picture of the purpose and scope of our project.

I will be traveling with 10 K-12 teachers, 2 4-H extension educators, and one curriculum specialist as well as our group leader, Diane, who works as a grants specialist at MSU. The group is full of experienced educators and world travelers. I am excited to be learning more about the geography of Michigan through each of the participants as they live all across the state. This trip will be not only a wonderful experience abroad, but also an opportunity to get to know many interesting Michiganders!

Welcome Howard-Ellis students, family, and friends to my travel blog.  I hope that everyone is having a great end of the school year.  I am really enjoying my time reflecting on the great musical learning this past year.  Next year will be very exciting with all of the new material that I find in Ecuador.  I leave for Quito, the capital of Ecuador, on July 6th.  I will be traveling around the country collecting curriculum materials, folk music, and dances to share with my students.  Please post comments below so I can keep track of all of the visits to my site!  All the best- Mrs. G!