Phrase of the day:
Oh my, estamos en Ecuador ahora?... Oh my, are we in Ecuador now?
On Friday we went to the town of Cotacachi for a cultural trip. It was amazing. Unesco deemed it the "City of Peace". Don't get me wrong, I love looking over my shoulder every two seconds in my current host city, but look at this:
It reminded me of Pesaro. It was super clean, the air was fresh, and most importantly, everyone smiled! Actually, a decent amount of Americans retire there as well.Our day started off bright and early. We had an hour bus ride to Cotacachi beginning around 7:30am. When we reached, we were greeted by two current volunteers. Roxanne, who is in agriculture and lives in the town, and the other in health and lives within 20 minutes. From there we went to Roxanne's Ento-Botanical Garden and participated in a "minga". That's when a group/community gets together to perform some sort of task. It was nice. Honestly, we just helped out by putting up some poles and weeding some of the herb gardens. Yeah, I crushed it (only thanks to all the experience from back home, of course). And maybe a bit because it's definitely the kind of work I like.
The host of a "minga" is supposed to feed the guests/workers... so we headed to lunch next. It was good. We had the usual huge lunch with soup, rice, a few vegies, and meat. Somehow I ended up in the kitchen washing dishes with lady who was cooking for us for like 30minutes. But no surprise there really, I guess... I'm very ansy.After lunch we walked around the town a bit, and then headed to see a show that was being put on for us. (And when I say "see a show", I totally mean in a basment of a community center, not in an audotorium or anything). First, 4 girls, who are part of a youth group that Roxanne works with, danced traditionally for us. They were very shy, but it was nice that they had the courage to dance for 30+ americans. After that a famous(?) indigenious band played music for us. They were great.
I think I may have to grow my hair out again... and rock a feather like their lead singer... beast. We danced while they played for about an hour. And nope, my dancing skills are still lacking. But it's only been a little more than 2 weeks!Yeah, there's no way I'll end up there, but it was great to see. And if I ever need a break for a weekend, Cotacachi is on the list for sure!
the first picture is crucial...are the streets always so empty, or did you get there really early and so nobody was out yet?
ReplyDeletethe streets are always like that. it's just a real chill town! i think most of the people take the bus out of town to work too
ReplyDeleteWhat a great concept! I think we've got a minga kind of family, don't you? Like you and Jojo helping us last summer. Cool.
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