Me at Cuicocha
Thursday, september 1: There was a party for the anniversary of the university's founding with lots of wine (it was a sweet, sparkling red wine, which was really weird to me), food, and an 80s cover band. Highlight of the day: watching my ancient Buddhism professor virtually chug a glass of wine.
Saturday, september 3: The university threw a party for the international students at a small hacienda outside of Cumbaya. There were lots of games (piñata smashing, egg races etc), food, dancing, and drinks. It was a good time and a great opportunity to meet a lot of the other kids studying at USFQ.
Alex rocking the egg races
All the Hoyas in Quito!
It's hard to know where to start with Otavalo. Otavalo is a small town outside of Quito famous for its market (feria). We decided to go up to Otavalo for the festivals of Yamur, which constitute the most popular days for tourism in Otavalo. After taking a private bus to our hotel (thanks to our wonderful Ecuadorian friend, Stephanie) we decided to go explore the town for a bit. Finding a club was a challenge, but we got there eventually. After an hour or so of dancing and carrying on, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest before hitting the market in the morning. Thankfully, Chloe and Lara convinced us to get up early for the market, as it got really crowded as the day went on. We did some Christmas shopping, ate some street food, and worked on our negotiating skills with the vendors. Later in the day, we made our way to Cuicocha, a volcanic lake in the mountains above Otavalo. After a quick boat ride, we did a little hiking and took way too many pictures of the view (y'all will get a good sampling in a second). Finally, we headed back to the hotel, had a few drinks, went to a concert for a short bit, and ended up at the same club as the night before. The next day we got up early to do some more shopping at a town famous for its leather and eventually made our way to a large park featuring a giant waterfall. After some interesting hiking experiences with the "Adventure Squad" (Ben Barge from UNC and Lucy Way from Oregon), we caught the bus back to Otavalo for lunch and then took off back to Quito.
Ben and I rocking our Correa shirts at the feria
The boys at Cuicocha
Yeah, we had breakfast here, no big deal
The Otavalo crew at the Cascada
The Adventure Team! (Notice my hair is wet)
Wednesday, September 14: I went to the university's Salsa Dancing Club. I am way to white for this stuff, but I guess I'll keep trying.
This weekend: Thursday, Ben Burt, Lara, Chloe, and I went out to "La Ronda," the oldest street in Quito, located right outside of the Centro Historico for some canelazo. Our canelazo was good as usual, but I can only drink so much without feeling a little sick (it's really sweet). Afterwards we sat down in a restaurant and ate some funnel-cake-esque treats with honey. We ended our night at a hookah bar in the Mariscal. Yesterday (friday), I went with Daniel and Daniela to the Colegio Ecuatoriano de Arcitectos to see a musical group that specializes in pre-hispanic instruments. All I can really say is that it was perhaps the strangest music I've ever heard in my life, but really cool nonetheless. Afterwards, we went down to the Mariscal to see a really awesome reggae band, Kunta Sativa, at a really awesome bar, Este Cafe. We grabbed some street food and wound down the night at a club filled with Ecuadorians (except for a group of kids from Texas A&M who were all really cool despite their unfortunate condition of being Aggies).
Great place
Hook 'Em!
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