More Quito

Sonia and I visited an orphanage last week and found 43 children who are being extremely well taken care of by their "tias" (aunts in Spanish). We happened to be there at lunch time and were invited to help feed some very sweet infants.

Saturday we hopped on a bus to Otavalo, a major market city about 1 1-2 hours north of Quito. We mistakenly found the market that only the local people shop at and missed the touristy one. This turned out to be one of the best experiences we have had so far. We saw what the locals eat (pork and fish with heads still on) and what the locals sell (imported clothes). We found a restaurant and ordered a half chicken dinner to split with a couple of soft drinks (total $5.50). When the order came we were given two bowls of chicken soup. When we told the waiter we ordered the pollo dinner, she said this was included. The soup turned out to be loaded with chicken feet! We have a picture of me pretending to eat the feet. The broth, however, was absolutely delicious. Then we were served two plates heaping with rice, salad, french fries and another plate with what appeared to be a whole chicken cut in half. When we told the staff there must be a mistake, that all we ordered was one order, not two, they said this was one order. Needless to say, we, the only gringas in the place, were gorda (fat) when we left. As we were leaving, we were serenaded by two minstrels playing a pan flute and ukulele. Too much!

The ride home from Otavalo was an adventure on its own - that´s another story, complete with R rated movies, vendors selling ice cream on the trip, and a transfer that took hours up and down the mountains of Quito. So, it looks like we are slowly becoming acculturated and absolutely loving it.

Today we were back at school and the kids all shared their vacation stories. The work load at school is quite a bit again this week, but I will be handing back the classes to my cooperating teacher slowly, beginning next week.

Hope your life is exciting, too, as you greet spring back in the states!