Encounters in Ecuador: Stories from my "Other Country"

Lest you think my life here is just one big party, I’d better write about something else, like libraries, archives, and coffee shops. Bear with me here. I've been trying to post this for a week, but my computer has had other ideas... Sometimes, you wait patiently for the right bus for 20 minutes, only to find out that it wasn’t the right bus and actually took you 30 minutes out of your way (you might’ve seen my Facebook post about that). Sometimes, you get into a music war with the teenager living next door who feels the need to play the same song on repeat for 3 hours straight (literally, my first day in Otavalo) or turn his bass up so high that everything in my room vibrates. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m not a fan of party walls!! Acres and acres are looking better by the minute. Thankfully, he seems to only be around on the weekends. Sometimes, you come down with a cold/sinus infection that at home would be nothing, but here because of the altitud

My friends in the market are starting to tease me that all I do is go to parties here. In the month I've been here, I've been to two birthday parties for my host family and the wedding of a friend of a friend. I'll admit that it's been more celebrating than I had anticipated, but it's also been a great opportunity to learn and make some really fun memories. Which also means I've been too busy to keep up with my blog, so this is going to be a two-fer. Besides, what kind of party pooper wants to turn down invitations to celebrate with friends? Wedding On Friday, June 29, I went to my very first wedding in Ecuador. It was an indigenous wedding of the family who owns Museo Otavalango (stay tuned for a post about them). My friend Blady (who I mentored during the summer of 2012 in the SUSI program at Bonas) is good friends with the family. His godfather is actually cousins with someone in the family. Being down here is a lot like being in Bradford: everyone is