We made to Cuenca, Ecuador!! We started our journey from Guayaquil this morning. We had traditional Ecuadorean breakfast, which was bread with butter and jam, freshly squeeze cantaloupe juice, and milk with coffee. After breakfast, our day started with a tour of the city of Guayaquil at 8:00AM. We were tricked by our EL's that it was going to be cold in Ecuador so we wore jeans, but in reality it was sooo hot throughout the whole tour of Guayaquil. Some things that we saw on our tour, were iguanas (aka their squirrels), the Cathedral, and the harbor.
After our tour, we made our way to Cuenca! On our three hour bus ride we slept, saw sheep and llamas, and drove into the clouds. Driving through the clouds were breathtaking and so unreal. We made a pit stop at the highest altitude location (13,000ft above sea level)! That was pretty awesome!
Also, we stopped at a location called Tres Cruces, which is translated to Three Crosses. This place was to honor hikers that passed away from the cold intense weather of the mountains. It is a custom to leave a rock near the three cross to ask for protection during your travels. A few were able to find some rocks and leave them near the cross. At that location, we also meant a guy from Brazil that was traveling from Africa and making his way back home. At that point we were only 30 minutes away from Cuenca!
Once we arrived to Cuenca, we were greeted by our host parents, Sr. and Sra. Gonzales! They provided us with some delicious lunch. We had chicken broth with popcorn as our starter and as the main course we had chicken, rice, and cooked carrots. It was soooo good! After lunch, we made our way back to the Universidad de Cuenca to have an orientation about the norms, safely, and culture. Then we had a tour of the university by one of their students, Cecilia. She us around the campus and we were able to see a girl basketball game.
After our tour, we went to Circus Social. This is a program for young kids in the community who are at risk of violence, drugs, and bad influences. The program teaches kids about confidence, trusting others, and never giving up through learning circus activities/exercise. The students have been practicing for a whole year, and we were able to see their first debut.
Then we headed back the Universidad and went our seperate ways to our homes to have dinner. For dinner our host mother cooked a fabulous meal. We had rice, a mushroom sauce, and fried plantain. It was a great and exhausting first day! Now time to go to bed!
Peace out from your EcuaChicas,
Semira, Cindy, Michelle, and Melissa
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