Recorriendo Ecuador

Blog turned Vlog

SOCCER GAME + MOVIES

ooooohhHHHHH. aaahhhhhh. The surge of excitement. The wave of disappointment. Ecuador’s team was dominating Cuba’s team in terms of possession and offensive power. You could feel the passion that the Ecuadorian aficionados had for their women’s team, where every time the team came close to scoring the stadium was filled with spirited energy; it exemplified the pride of being Ecuadorian. The next day we went to Supercines to watch Elementals in Spanish, and it was a good movie to watch, even with us being at least 15 years older than the rest of the audience. Next movie to we go we’re seeing the new Barbie movie. I love Ryan Gosling— I mean, Margot Robbie…

Museo Del Alabado

Welcome to my humble abode. This place used to be a house that families inhabited since 1671, and was converted into a museum to showcase the richness of culture and history embedded in the walls of this historical site. Inside the house we toured underground where we saw works of art made out of rock from different time eras. They rocked my world. Get it? At the end of the tour, our tour guide surprised us with a unique instrument that worked with water and the turning of the instrument. It would create different pitches of whistles depending on the way you would maneuver the instrument, and it was quite fun messing around with an ancient instrument whose purpose was definitely not being tilted to its side every two seconds. 

Las Cúpulas 

One of our wonderful Panas coordinated a group activity of visiting la Iglesia de le Compañía at night. We were guided to the top of la Iglesia and we were able to go inside the dome (cúpula) to see inside the church from a bird’s eye view. We were also to see part of the city, along with El Panecillo, and the night made the view so much better. 

Quilotoa

When you hear that there is a lake inside the crater of a volcano, you have to go see it for yourself. But even when you’re hiking down the trail, the lake still looks unbelievable - especially with part of the water being green. On the way back up a couple of us rented mules to avoid the steep uphill, and at the top we got some delicious hot chocolate. We stayed in a hostería where we played a card game called B.S. and we cuddled all together on a bed next to a small furnace with logs as its fuel. It was here that we realized that Rachel is of a different species, because she thought it was warm when everyone else thought it was freezing. 

Baños

The land of unlimited fun. There’s everything to do here, and that’s exactly what we did. We started the morning off with a light, 1hr & 1/2 water rafting, followed by a simple jumping off of waterfalls, then a little dip in the hot springs, and ended the day off by going to a club a bit past bedtime. I know, it sounds like nothing much but we tried to make the best of it. The city was packed with tourists and it was a pleasure for everyone to be so warm and kind, even when we were trying to say “I want some strawberries” in Mandarin (thank you Doris); in public mind you. On Sunday, we did one more group activity where we got dubbed the name “Sexy Tequilas,” - with me being the sexiest one of course. We zip lined, crossed a bridge with disconnected steps that was about 25 meters over a crashing river, and climbed the side of a mountain with only iron bars and my iron stomach of not throwing up in fear (although not so much iron considering I in fact did throw up later that day. Maybe it was a delayed fear response). Before embarking on our next journey, Sexy Tequilas split ways with some of us bungee jumping (you’re wild Lariece) and others making a pit stop to El Pailon del Diablo. I can see why it has the name, the waterfall was just so formidable and the trail down would just leave you in awe. We took a public bus to get from Baños to El Pailon and it would get pretty hot inside, but it was definitely worth the 50 cent trip; besides, we were asleep for most of the way & I got proof hehe. Except Ana would kill me if I show it so I decided not to include it for my own safety and protection. 

Cotopaxi 

Humbling. We definitely underestimated how cold it was so we were clothed underprepared (except Rachel was warm like always). The hike up was a challenge for sure, but the sights were breathtaking. The glacier was our favorite part, as the icicles hanging from a mountain painted a beautiful work of art to marvel at.

P.S. Javi didn’t go to class on Tuesday. You have proof why Profe. 

Update 8/1

Javi got his revenge. Cotopaxi has been conquered.