Saturday - July 3rd - Otavalo

Yesterday, we set off bright and early (well not really that early) at 9am for a day trip. We went with the Jersey Boys and the group with Wisconsin. We boarded the bus, with Guillermo as our driver and his two granddaugters with us, Kimberly and Michelle. In total, there were 39 of us. We were headed to Laguna de Cuicocha, then Otavalo. On the way there, we stopped at a vista point. It was simply breathtaking!

After about 3 hours of driving, we finally arrived at Laguna de Cuicocha. Like I said above it is a lake that has formed in the crater of a volcano. There is a lovely visitor's center there and an opportunity to take a coat ride to the other side of this island. There the boat stops and the bubbles come up to the surface. Our guide explained that those bubbles are the volcanic gases from the volcano.

Here we are on the boat!

Following this tour, we stopped at the snack bar and got canelazo (cinnamon tea) with empanadas with cheese inside. They were delicious. We reboarded the bus for the 1/2 drive back to Otavalo (we had passed through Otavalo on the way to the lake) for shopping. This town has a huge market each Saturday were people from the surrounding areas bring their handicrafts to sell. There is also a large Farmer's Market type area where people sell fruits, vegetables, chickens, meat, etc.

We had about 2 hours at the market to shop til we dropped! Laurie and I bought lots of stuff to bring back to St. Matthias to sell - July 17-18 will be the mission co-op weekend where we will share our experiences from the trip and offer these items for sale (we will send the money back to the Working Boys Center and Casa Damien to help support them).

The Otavelenos have a distinct style of dress. The women waer black skirts, with white cloth underneath. The have these beautiful embroidered blouses, then they wear blue, black or white pieces of cloth draped over one shoulder and tied under the other arm. Sometimes, the women will have a piece of cloth on top of their head as a kind of make-shift sun visor.  I asked one woman if I could take her picture, but she refused. I sneakily took these photos, trying to capture the feeling at the market.

We met back at the bus at 4:30 pm to begin our journey back home. We got back around 6:15pm. Dinner was at 7:15 pm. When Madre Miguel and Padre Juan arrived, Laurie asked them to join us for our meeting after dinner. They gratefully accepted. During the meeting, we presented them with the prayer scarves that Laurie had crocheted for them. We also expressed our gratutude to them for sharing their home with us and welcoming us to share this wonderful experience.  

Today, we are going to Mitad del Mundo (the Middle of the World) -the more touristy museum (the other day we went to the indigenous museum). We will stop at the Mall on the way back and pick up some hot dogs and buns and things to grill for our Fourth of July celebration.

We leave tonight for the airport at 9pm. I am feeling anxious to get home, but sad to leave this beautiful country and people.