Ever Seen Someone Brown Bag a...

baby chick? I have! :) I won´t make this a long entry, but here´s a rapid fire update...ready? I said...are you ready? Thank you. :) ok.

Last night we had our first group meeting and I AM the only American! So, everyone, I´ll do my best to represent by over-eating, acting insensitively to other cultures, and saying ¨ya´ll¨ as much as possible. Just kidding - I won´t say ¨ya´ll¨ :P But everyone is traveling in pairs except me, another girl, and a guy. They are all Aussies except one girl from London (the girl traveling solo) and one couple from New Zealand. Sooo, I´m learning all sorts of new things....like that people will laugh when you say things like ¨fanny pack¨ (I mean that is a ridiculous word to begin with!) and ¨granola bars¨ - apparently those are bum bags and muxsle (sp?). I´d google these things to be more accurate, but if you knew how slow this computer was you´d be amazed I´m even online! So yea, everyone is very nice and I think it will be a ¨rather lovely trip¨.

today. woke up at 6 feeling like a million bucks. took private bus with group to the middle of the world. stood in the northern and southern hemisphere at the same time. went to a animal market in Otavalo. saw pigs fight, women carrying chickens, people buying chicks and taking them ¨to go¨ in brown paper bags, a 10 year old boy auctioning irons and strainers, cows, kittens, puppies, goats. went to a beautiful lago - Cuicocha, with an amazing view of a volcano in the background. very pretty. went to Otavalo Mercado - the biggest open air market in south america. bought some things i probably don´t need for twice as much as i probably could have paid (which is still nothing). To give you an idea of the prices here. I had lunch today at the market - rice, a couple french fries, a chicken leg, beats, soup, and juice (which I didn´t dare sip) for $1.25. Yea, talk about breaking the bank!

It was a day packed with a view into a completely different world (unbelievable that there are people on this earth living in this time that are SO SO very different - the people at the market were all native and their culture dates back to the Incas), and many great photo opportunities. Once I post my pics you´ll understand how I could walk around for hours and just soak up all the sights, sounds, smells, and what ever else one can soak up...oh, tastes too :)

So tomorrow we are off to Las Amazonas (after our first 5 hour bus trip). Don´t think we´ll have internet there so I´ll catch you all in Banos (the place, not the bathroom)! Thanks to all reading and posting comments. I´m definitely not lonely (I´m actually liking the flexibility of traveling alone), but there are some moments when you feel like you´re in middle school and you´re not sure if the cool kids are going to ask you to sit with them at lunch or just let you pick your nose by yourself at the table next to them. So reading all your comments gives me a sense of belonging...which allows me to pick my nose and eat alone, thanks a lot! :) xoxo, Cara p.s. did I really try to make a short entry. ha!