Twenty-fourth day- treasures.

6:21 PM flashesofgold 0 Comments

Saturday was our trip to Otavalo. We got close to no sleep and got up at an ungodly hour to catch our bus. When we got to Quitumbe bus station, it turned out that our bus was delayed for about 2 hours...which meant lots of slap-happy Juhee-ness. We spent our time laughing and talking. This talk session also resulted in more nicknames for me, DJ Chuk and Chuk-a-licious being two of many. We waited and waited until our bus finally got to the station, and when we got into the lovely vehicle, nearly all of us fell into deep and undisturbed sleep right away. Our big group of gringos got off the bus and walked for a few blocks in order to get to the actual marketplace. Everything was so exciting. People in traditional Ecuadorian clothing and people from all different countries, meshing into one huge sensory overload. We haggled and shopped and found many treasures for ourselves and for our friends and family. At lunch, everyone was famished and gobbled down 4 large pizzas as a consolation prize for our hard work of walking and haggling in Spanish. After lunch, we went to get more things, splitting into our smaller groups as we had done before. I found a couple more things to buy, and then we lost Annie. Everyone ended up walking towards the bus stop to find her, and luckily we ran into her beautiful face there. After a hard day of shopping, almost everyone rode in sleepy silence and we got off the bus at our familiar place at Puente de Guajalo.
On Sunday, all I wanted to do was rest. Some wanted to climb the mountain Pichincha, but I was exhausted. Unfortunately for some, plans to go to Pichincha were foiled by noon, so Alexa, Conor, Alaina and I ended up going downtown. We were going to finally get our piercings that we had wanted for a while. I got my cartilege pierced in what seemed like 10 seconds, and Alaina got her nose pierced in an equally short amount of time. We both really loved our new piercings and in gratitude, the Sonia at the piercing parlor decided to give Conor a free earring. After that, we looked around the market nearby [where a random gringo said, "I think I just saw the girl I want to marry," to one of us, making us smile] and got tango McFlurries, sharing silly conversations about our lives.
Monday, everything was as usual, but after school we went to get our laundry done and went to mass. Mass was amazing, seeing as we were sitting in a beautiful gold-covered church in La Mariscal. I was a little unsure of myself, not being Catholic, but otherwise I was very glad I went. The rest of the day was a little shady... getting to our laundry place by way of an older lady who led us through a "shortcut," getting whistled at by random men, and being driven home by a taxi driver with a very long pinky nail who did not like to slow down.
Tuesday, we went to school as usual. I had a very productive day, going for a run [first one since I've been here...crazy!], picking up my laundry, and going to Mega Maxi to pick up things for our new student. The run was actually a great one, and surprisingly, I didn't pass out from the lack of air in our new high-altitude-home. Busy busy bee! After that, we had Lianna's birthday celebration, which was a lot of fun. Courtney made us cake and Caitlin made Lianna a birthday rap, which was beyond hilarious.
Today was a rough day. The kids were rowdy. They stole, hit, refused to listen, and jumped on me all day. Even so, I think I can relate to how parents feel. You have to love them, even if they are little troublemakers. After school, I went on a run, this time with a bigger group of TQP clan. I found out that after 6 years of searching for someone that runs exactly at my pace, dear Conor was here all along, running exactly at my pace. We ran together the whole time and had great conversation. When we returned to the house, we ate our delicious dinner and took showers. Three of us are sick at the moment though, so I hope that they get better and that no one else gets sick.