The Precarious Adventures of a Peace Corps Volunteer: The Road to Otavalo

Saturday, February 2, 2013. My host parents have been talking about taking me to Otavalo since my first day here and finally we were able to go today. 2 of the other volunteers came with us and we were out for 12 hours! It took about 3 hours to get there by bus, but it was a beautiful trip. I took more pictures of scenery than the market itself.

Otavalo is Ecuador’s largest outdoor artisan craft market. The center of the market is called Plaza de Ponchos, and I was determined to find myself a good poncho. We walked around for hours and searched for the perfect one. You have to “regatear” (bargain) here for everything, which I am terrible at, but I’m learning. There is a price for extranjeros (foreigners) and there is a price for nacionales (locals). You can probably guess which one is higher. The poncho I wanted was thick and turquoise and the first offer they gave was $18 at one stand. We walked over to another and the exact same one, made of the same material was $28! Even my host parents tried talking with them and the lowest they would go was $22. So we walked back over to the first stand and talked them down to $15!

I also got a good price on a hat for my uncle Craigee- a Sombrero de PajaToquilla, also known as a Montecristi, also known to the rest of the world as a Panama hat. It is a common misconception that the hats are made in Panama because they come through the canal to get exported to the States, but Ecuadorians hate it when they’re called that because they’re actually made in a coastal province of Ecuador named Manabi, and they take great pride in their work. The hats range in price from about $20 to $2,000 in a shop in Hawaii, but I got this one for $14, plus a cool box. I rocked that market today. We also saw shrunken heads from the Amazon! Cocaine candy! (Legal because they’re made from the leaves) And monkey hand necklaces! (which are good luck, similar to a rabbit’s foot)

It was time for lunch and we walked around looking for a good restaurant when we stopped on a dime as the most heavenly scent filled our nostrils. At the entrance of this restaurant, there was a man making fresh chocolate. Chocolate dipped apples, marshmallows, bananas (yuck), and peanuts. So we all got the lunch special (for $3) which included soup, meat, rice, potatoes, salad, and fresh squeezed pineapple juice. It was just alright, but we were all looking forward to dessert. I chose a combo which was marshmallow and peanuts (which are called mani here, instead of cacahuate) covered in delicious chocolate. I’ve noticed small changes in my behavior since being here. I found a hair in my candy, which was quite obviously not mine. At home, I would have thrown the whole thing away, but here, I picked the hair out and the surrounding chocolate and continued chowing down. That candy cost $1! For one dollar in Ecuador, you can: talk on the phone for 4 minutes, get all the way to Quito and back on the bus, buy a pound of delicious blackberries or a really big bottle of beer, or you can enjoy hairless mani con chocolate.

This trip was a great escape. We’ve been receiving more homework assignments lately and we have some important projects coming up next week. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed with training so it was so nice to be a tourist for a day. Now back to homework.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.

Love,

Chels

p.s. I forgot to mention before- I can receive unlimited text messages for free at my normal number 760-580-7293 until February 15th! Send me updates on life at home and encouraging words!