Jelly Doughnut = a shining example of the stupidity/hilarity of Americans

Day 1- Tienda= store

Stick with me on this one, the jelly doughnut part takes a while to get to but its well worth it. Picking up where I left off…I am on a bus ride to a city named Otavalo. During my stay in Otavalo not only am I going to visit the largest indigenous market in South America but also I am going to stay with an indigenous family for two nights. The history of the indigenous people of Ecuador is quite similar to that of many parts of the world….depressing. After the Spanish conquered the region the indigenous people were made into slaves. In recent history their lives have been “improving”, or what I see as “not as actively oppressed.” Social classes are still very present in Ecuador and while outright acts of hierarchy are not seen everyday, it is very easy to see it inside and outside of the household.

Due to the history of oppression, most indigenous people are extremely shy around outsiders. Not only are they shy but they actually speak an entirely different language, Quechua. Luckily the family that I stayed with spoke both Spanish and Quechua, but anytime they spoke to each other, they strictly spoke Quechua.

When I first arrived at my temporary new home with my two mates, Brent and Nathan, we decided to go for a hike. Quick description: Nathan is very tall and loves nature. Brent is “chubby”, enjoys “larding” (an act in which he consumes an inordinate amount of food), and only likes nature if it involves beer. Brent agreed to go on a hike as long as its main going was to find a “beer tienda” (Before I bash him to much he is very good at Spanish…lets continue). We hiked for about 45 minutes through the gorgeous countryside and woods overlooking Otavalo, and surprise, we were surrounded by mountains and volcanoes in all directions. Despite the brevity of the hike Brent constantly either chanted “lard, lard, I cant wait to lard at dinner” and “there better be a tienda around this next turn.” When we returned from our trip empty handed Brent was winded and upset.

We met up with two other Ohio State guys who were staying a few houses down to talk before dinner. Adding insult to injury we were informed that there was a “tienda” only a few minutes up the road in the opposite direction we had walked. Once Brent got over his initial frustration, we made a plan to meet up for a brew after dinner.

Dinner with our family began around 8pm and we had a very traditional Ecuadorian meal, soup followed by rice and chicken. Everything was made fresh on their farm and was delicious. On their farm they grew a variety of vegetables and had cows, chickens, donkeys, guinea pigs, and bees. I had the chance to literally taste honey right off of the honey comb….the taste was out of this world!

Despite the good food, conversation was a little awkward no matter any effort put forth to engage in small talk. The father of the family was the only person to speak to us and is an extremely nice man. Overall it went very well for our first time engaging with them and they appreciated our politeness….oh and Brent did “lard” and I thought the daughters eyes were going to pop out of her head as he finished not only his but Nathan’ plate also.

After dinner the five manly men met up for a brew under a clear starry night. The stars are absolutely beautiful and no place, even in Alaska, could I see as many stars as I did in Otavalo.

Day 2- Jelly Doughnut

Will be posted before Friday! Sorry for the tease but I have to get home for dinner!