Saraguro Weekend!!

This past weekend we went on an awesome trip to a city called Saraguro!  It was one of my favorite weekend trips that we have taken so far.  The two study abroad groups were combined for this trip; which means that the fall semester students joined us.  We left early on Saturday morning to meet at CEDEI School where we take our classes.  There was a bus that picked all of us up and in no time we were on the road!  It was about a three hour drive through the mountains to get from Cuenca to Saraguro.  We were blessed to have an awesome bus driver though!  The ride went so smooth and trust me, with all of the mountain driving that we were doing…it could have gone a lot worse!



~A view of the hotel from the front~

We arrived to Saraguro safely and the first stop that we made was at the hotel we were staying at.  As we drove into Saraguro I could tell that it was a hard working city that held a lot of the cultural traditions.  We were pretty much in the middle of no where, but it was so beautiful and peaceful.  The hotel that we stayed at was very cute.  They gave us about 45 minutes to get settled in and pack a backpack with layers for the hike because of the temperature changes.  As we walked out towards the dirt path that lead up to the back of our hotel, we saw an interesting ride waiting for us.  I don’t know why, but I was super pumped to go for a ride on this thing.  The only thing I didn’t know was that it was going to be about an hour ride on narrow, bumpy roads.  All I can say is that I’m thankful that Dramamine works for an extended amount of hours…the ride was still worth it because I won’t forget it. 

~Our bumpy ride ro our hiking destination~

~Jenny & I sat in the back of the truck on the way home...we
were actually being bounced off of the bench because
of how bumpy the ride was.  The bad part was that the
only bench that wasn't padded was the very one that we
sat on...haha!~





~A traditional house in Saraguro,
from the outside~

 



Once we arrived to our destination, we received a tour of one of the traditional homes of this area.  It was incredible to see the inside and outside of one of these homes.  For me, it’s hard to believe that people live in such a way. 
 
 


 

Corn that was hung inside of the house...





~Desks that were within the house,
for teaching purposes~

After the tour we went on a short hike and we ended up at a point in the mountain where there was an amazing view.  At this point we were given the option of going back or hiking for two hours to reach a lonesome tree in a far off mountain that we could see from where we were standing.  Not everyone chose to go on the hike, but I would say that the majority of us wanted to go.  Let me just say that this hike was not at all what I was expecting.  Our tour guide was practically running so it was tough to keep up.  The whole two hour hike just to reach the tree we were walking on a path that was about a foot and a half wide.  On one side there was either rock or mountain that went up.  The other side was a straight drop down.  Heights have never affected me until this trip.  Oh my goodness was I hugging the opposing side of the huge drop.  I mean if you take one wrong step, you’re gone.  This sounds harsh…but it’s so true.  Okay, I’ll be positive now…the natural views that we saw while hiking were amazing!  Pictures just don’t do justice! 

Beautiful view # 1...

Beautiful view # 2...

Beautiful view # 3...

 

Relalaxng, while playing the
haha game!


We had finally reached the lonesome tree and it was time to take a deep breath.  Most of us got comfy and laid down to enjoy the beauty that surrounded us.  No words can describe how sweet it was.  After resting for a bit our guide instructed us to all scream as loud as we could off one side of the mountain and then to silence ourselves at the same time.  We did just what he said and it was soooo neat!  An echo is something that you have all probably heard, but the echo in the Andes mountains was incredible.  We rested for a bit longer and then headed back to base one where we started and would meet up with those who chose not to go on the hike.


I did not really enjoy hiking when I was younger, but I LOVE it now!  With how much hiking that we’ve done during my time in Ecuador, I have grown to have a passion for it!!  Arriving back to our starting spot felt so good!  I looked back at the lonesome tree and couldn’t believe how far we had hiked!  Before heading out we participated in a cultural activity.  They passed around the drink and each person took as much as they wanted.  I personally did not like the drink.  The drink had some sort of alcohol in it and they warned us not to drink too much of it because we would be having a “boom boom” party later that night!  I took one sip and was done! Uck!  While we were participating in this tradition there were little kids running around because we were right by our guide’s house.  Of course I was super distracted by the kiddos and wanted to play.  There was a little boy that was jumping around my friend Ashley and I.  He was a cutie pie!  The one funny thing was that we both thought the child was a girl because of the braids that he was wearing, but we thought wrong.  It is tradition in this specific city that both boys/girls and men/women have long hang!  Ya learn something new everyday!

Starting to pour the traditional drink into the cup that
everyone drank from.  The leaders of the group were
required to drink first!



Laura, Ash & I after taking a drink!

Here is the little boy who loved Ashley & I...what a cutie!



As we started to head home on our sweet ride..we saw these
women siting outside of a chruch.  It looks as f they are
putting together a flwer arrangement!  I thought it was
really pretty so I snapped a picture!


 

Here is a picture of the weaving factory
 that we stopped at!



After every last drop of the drink was finished we got back on our interesting ride and headed back to our hotel.  We didn’t have but time at the hotel because we were off to another planned event.  I grabbed more layers, because it was freezing, and hopped on the bus.  Before heading to dinner we went to a weaving factory.  Weaving is something that this city specializes in.  I was in awe of the wooden machines that they use to make everything that they do!  After taking the time to look around and observe a demonstration we headed to dinner at a restaurant.  This weekend was full of trying new foods!  I’m a picky eater and I thought that dinner was pretty good.  Trust me, for me to say the food here was good…means that it was delicious to everyone else.  The chicken was super good, definitely my favorite part of the meal!

 

This was taken during the weaving demonstration.  I was shocked
at how quickly he was able to work this tool!  Also as I mentioned
before, it is traditional for men to have long hair. Every man that I
saw had long hair and wore it in a braid.

Above is the dinner that we ate at the restaurant.  The soup on the left was the first portion of the meal that we recieved.  On the right you will see the yummy chicken that we ate and below both of these pictures is the dessert.  It was some sort of fruit in a sauce...that was good as well!


For an hour or so after we finished dinner we had the opportunity to listen to live traditional music.  This was something that I really enjoyed.  I took a few different videos on my camera, but I was unable to post them on my blog…so I’ll have to show everyone them once I’m home.  The group of people played a few different songs and then we were invited to get up and dance.  Everyone was a little shy at first, but after a few minutes we were up and dancing!  Ahhh, it was sooo much fun!  We also had the opportunity to go up and play some of the instruments that they had available!  A small group of the fall semester students went up first.  Some of them actually have musical talent, so when they played the instruments and sang…they sounded decent!  Then it was our turn!  Our group does not have much natural music abilities, but we still rocked it up there!  We sang “Old McDonald” for everyone and pretended like we knew how to play the instruments!  At least we made everyone laugh!  We were pretty wiped out after the big musical/dancing fiesta, so we headed back to the hotel and hung out for a bit and then hit the hay.



The band that played the traditional music for us!

It was our turn...and we rocked it..haha not really, but it was
still fun! 



The traditional energy ceremony that
took place...

 The following morning we woke up bright and early to eat breakfast at the hotel.  We had a couple of activities planned for us.  First, we took a short hike to observe a traditional ceremony that took place on the top of a hill.  The goal of the ceremony was to receive energy.  It was neat to watch, but very contradictory to my beliefs.  There was a lot of spitting/blowing of water over plants and asking the North, South, East and West for energy.  After the ceremony we headed to the center of the city to go SHOPPING!!!  There were a bunch of market stands with pretty jewelry and other gadgets.  I love going shopping on our different trips because every market has different types of stuff! 



This picture was taken in front of our hotel.  There was a neat
circle built within the brick wall that overlooks the city!

The cooked guinea pig!!

Yes, the moment that you have all been waiting for.  Lunch was the last thing that partook in before heading back to Cuenca.  As I mentioned before, this weekend was full of trying new foods.  Well, as I type this I am trying not to gag…but yes I tried guinea pig.  I HAD to do it!  I didn’t know when the next time would be that I would have the opportunity to do this.  Lets just say this is NOT good meat at all.  I ate the smallest piece and it took me about 5 minutes to chew through.  Guinea pig meat is very tough and full of fat.  Each person received a different part of the guinea pig.  My friend Brianne got a leg and Laura had hair on hers.  Yeah, I know pretty sick.  Blah!  I ate it, but never again!

  

Yum, the leg of the guinea pig!



Not a fan of eating guinea pig!



The Saraguro weekend trip was a ton of fun!  I couldn’t believe how much we packed into a day and a half!  I can’t wait to show you all more pictures from this weekend!  I tried to post as many as I could…hopefully it isn’t overwhelming!  Love you all!

Xoxo,

Aim

P.S.  I finally took some pictures of my house and host family…so this will be one of my next blogs!