I arrived in Quito on the 14th of Feb valentine’s day which is very big in South America, so on every Street there was couples holding hands, kissing and others trying to sell roses and teddy bears! I got picked up in the airport by Chari, a friend of the organizer of my first volunteer project in Ecuador – She took me out and around Quito – the old town – and already here did I notice how different South America is from Central America!! So many people on the streets, no other travellers, many many beggars and the men did not hold back!!! Quito was very big and overwhelming so then next morning I set out for what turned out to be quite the adventure to my first volunteer destination. I took a bus from Quito to Otavalo, and just to get out of Quito took 30 min because the bus stops on every corner and the guy runs out while screaming “otavalo, ..tavalo, ..tavalo!!!” and tries to pick up more people! I got to Otavalo and had to wait 3 hours for my bus going to Cuellaje! Otavalo is a very confusing town, so I ended up sitting in a little café having a terrible and very watery coffee and read my book! The next bus took me into the mountains, up and up we went and the rain began… the roads got very slippery quickly and all of a sudden the back of the bus slid and so the back half end of the bus was hanging over the cliff… everyone out of the bus!!!! We got out safely and they magically got the bus in and then…on we went! It wasn’t long before we came to a turn where there had been a huge mudslide so the road was almost covered, everyone out of the buss again!! I don’t know how but the bus made it through and finally the tiny city of Cuellaje came into sight! I spent the night in Cuellaje to take the milk truck further up to San Antonio the next morning! At 7.30am I got into the milk truck and we started what I thought would be the last stretch before reaching final destination, but after 1 hour we were stuck! And so we waited for the women to come down with the milk on their horses and once the milk was given to the truck driver and everything sorted they pointed at me and then the horse and so I went on the horse and the woman gave me the robe and smacked the horse and off I was, they didn’t consider that I didn’t know how to ride, but thankfully the horse knew his was and so 2 hours and a very soar butt later I arrived at the volunteer project! We went to a family down the road, I bought trout for the whole family (mum, dad and 6 kids) as a gift, 9 trout – 5 dollars, and when I gave it to them their faces looked like I have just given them 100,000,000 dollars!!! It was very satisfying to be able to make someone so happy by doing so little! So we all ate together and the man showed me around on his farm! The next morning we woke early to set out before the rain, but the rain is never reliable and when we woke it rained hard!!! So we waited for a couple of hours and when it had calmed a little we went, 4 hours on the horse, on a wooden saddle over the mountains. We tied the horse to a tree when we reached the river and then we crossed the furious river on two steal wires! One on the bottom for your feet and one on top to hold with your hands and then make your way across sideways!!! Finally we arrived at my “family” and Ned, the coordinator of the project, left! And there I was very very alone and so isolated with an only Spanish speaking family! I worked with them carrying wood, building a fence, picking seeds out of pumpkins, feeding the animals and milking the cows, at night we all had dinner in the little very dark kitchen and they sat on the floor making baskets! One of the days Alfredo took me to their waterfall, in through the mountain forests and up the mountain we came to the waterfall, hundreds of meters high and it split into two and went on either side of a little island!! It was absolutely amazing, we climbed up halfway and got completely soaked! When we came home I decided to do my laundry – old school! Haha… On a block of stone I scrubbed my clothe with water and soap and then hang them out to dry – it took about 3 days to dry, on the second day it was almost dry but then it started raining and the rain doesn’t start little by little it STARTS HARD!!!! So all soaked again! Luckily the sun came out and so it dried! In the evening they had a little party for me because I was leaving the next day! And so we all drank small shots of homemade sugarcane liquor out of the same glass and danced salsa all night! It was a lot of fun and Patricia made a little basket for me as a going away present! I was the second volunteer to every live with them, so they talked and asked many questions! I taught the little girl some English and I could hear her practice every night! J The next day we went to the road, got into an extremely crowded truck all standing up! I had moments of fear for my life, but I made it down! Went to church with the family and then I bought them rice and sugar as a thanks for letting me live with them!
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