Week Two, Part One: Weekend Edition (Kasey Rae)

Saturday morning started nice and early at 6:00 a.m, to be ready to leave for the Otavalo Market at 7:00 a.m. We hit the road on time, for a two hour drive that consisted of gorgeous scenic mountains and sporadic naps. The majority of the highway that leads to the city is built into the side of the mountains, and you could see workers in the process of covering the mountainsides with nets, and putting concrete on top. The areas that were finished looked like rocks from video games - and oddly smooth, almost bluish tinge that looked like it didn't belong with the rest of the natural landscape. David explained that it was a precaution against landslides, which I found interesting: humans went out of their way to destroy nature for their own convenience, and managed to circumvent the consequences. Not that I think landslides are a positive thing in any way, but it just kind of forces you to be aware of our impact on the world around us in a drastic way that is normally easy to ignore.

Or maybe that's just me.

But anyways, moving on. When we reached Otavalo, we picked up the leader of the Otavalo Artisan's Union, who contextualized the market for us, beyond being just a popular tourist destination. He brought us to a small family-run shop, where we got to see the process of tapestry weaving on a huge loom, while learning about how the market influences the surrounding communities, and how many things in the market are mass produced and bought wholesale, to be sold in the market. While we had already discussed and read about Otavalo as an international force, it was interesting to hear first-hand how it worked, beyond the surface appearance of a quaint, "authentic" touristic experience (I'm not even going to open that can of worms right now, but it's an idea worth mentioning).

Weaving a tapestry is a two day process with this family's technique.

Spinning wool makes it easier to dye.

From there, we went to the office building of the union to see the market from above. It has over 7000 stalls, reaching beyond the central area into the streets nearby.

Otavalo Market from Above

We then split into groups and tackled the market for two hours, bartering and negotiating to our hearts' content. Maya, Phillipp and I stumbled upon a little shop which happened to have large bags of bracelets and such that some stalls were selling individually for more than 1 USD each, for ridiculously cheap prices. I found it hilarious that we didn't even have to leave the market to find a larger source for the "authentic, hand-made" souvenirs being sold. Eventually, we met up with everyone again to compare our spoils and discuss our fantastic bargaining skills, before heading to the Cotopaxi National Park for lunch, and to visit the Cuicocha Lagoon.

That speck on the left side? That's a boat.

The restaurant area, featuring random people.

Phillip and David wearing their snazzy new sweaters.

 We went on a boat ride around the lagoon, and about half way through the driver (is that what you call a boat guide person?) stopped to tell us about the lagoon. It was an active volcano at one point, and filled with water after an eruption (or at least that seems to be the general gist of it). You can still see gas bubbles coming from below to the surface of the water, and it's more than 200 meters deep. 

After that, we headed home, and were lucky enough to have a relaxing day (and a chance to sleep in!) on Sunday.

Here are more pictures from the Lagoon, because it's stunning:

View from the dock

I believe that's the back of Meghan's head.

Week One, Part One: Weekend Edition (Kasey Rae)

It's been just over a week since leaving Winnipeg, and I've only been able to tell people bits and pieces of what's happened since Nick dropped me off at the airport around 3:30 am last Saturday. I guess I'll start from the beginning...

Part One: In Transit

#OccupyPearson2015

It was supposed to be a smooth day of flights, connecting at Pearson International in Toronto, then Panama City, then Quito. Our first flight left at 5:15 am CST, and that went really smoothly. We all showed up, met up with David (when he told us to behave and whatnot, before going off to check in for his own flight), and checked in. With the exception of a screaming cat/child at the beginning of the flight, it went really smoothly. When we landed, there was an American plane at our gate, so we had to find another one to go to. We had an hour between flights, so once we finally disembarked, we ran to the bathroom and grabbed our bags. Our connection was in a completely different terminal, so we figured out how to get there using the train thing that they have. We were all determined to make it in time, walking in a flying V formation (not even kidding, people moved out of our way; we were clearly on a mission) down the hallway to our gate. So far it was going great. We were (I was) joking about being on the Amazing Race, and how we were kicking ass making it to the gate so soon.

Road Block

Of course, we jinxed ourselves. Okay, maybe it was me; I was convinced that it was going too well, and travelling just doesn't work like that. When we walked up to the gate, there were three employees standing there and nobody else. We immediately found out that they stopped boarding the flight an hour before it was scheduled to leave - we touched down at 8:45 am EST, and they closed check-ins at 8:55. We were doomed before we even got there. Despite my angry arguing, they said that there was nothing that they could do, and it was the fault of our travelling agency. Panicked, we tried calling Suzie in Winnipeg, and David, but to no avail. Maya went to find an information desk, and we decided to call the Travel Agency. Hollette did the calling, and we got through to an emergency line, where we encountered Angie. She became our main contact through the following hours. We were still blocking the check-in counter, and Hollette's phone was dying, so we all shuffled over to the only electrical socket we could see, by the payphones. We all huddled around the phone (yes, we looked ridiculous), as Angie assured us that she would sort it out, and we would probably be able to make an American Airlines flight for 11:30, connecting through Miami to Quito. She said she would need to get everything confirmed, and she would call us back with the details. We marched back over to the first terminal where we arrived, and waited for her confirmation. I bought fries for everyone because we hadn't eaten since before arriving to the airport in Winnipeg, and we sat around. Finally she called us back at 10:30, and said that four of us (Maya, Hollette, Meghan, and Alanna) could make the AmAir flight, but two of us had to get on a Delta Airlines flight to JFK Airport in New York, then through Panama City to Quito. We weren't sure if we could make that work without approval from our coordinators, but since the flight was going to leave in an hour, we figured we'd try. The four who were supposed to get on the flight went up to the desk, and found out that they couldn't be checked in (which we kind of expected at that point, because of the time). We were stuck in the same position as we had been a few hours before.

As we were trying to figure out what we would do next, we finally got through to Suzie (she had been at the gym, and saw all the missed calls as soon as she got out), and updated her on our issue. She said it was fine if we could split up, as long as we made it there that night as planned, and nobody was by themselves. We heard back from one of Angie's coworkers, who said that Angie was surprised that they couldn't make the AmAir flight, and that she had several people working on our case. We went down to have Subway, and when everyone was finished, Angie called us back with Tyler Wiebe from the University. They told us that we wouldn't be able to catch another flight that day, so we would have to stay at the Radisson on Dixon Rd., and we would be able to fly through Atlanta the next day, with a 9 hour layover. Maya and Meghan had to pay for their rooms, but we were assured that we would be reimbursed for the cost of the rooms and our food, because it was the agency's fault that this all happened. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn't make it to Quito as planned, and called a shuttle to the hotel.

When we got to the hotel, nearly everyone napped right away. It was a long day, and it was starting to take its toll on us, despite the fact that we had remained composed and mostly cheerful during the whole thing. After a little while, David checked with us - Suzie had reached him and told him everything. Our flights for the next day had changed yet again, and we were now scheduled to leave Toronto at 7:45 am, to Houston, then a 6:30 pm flight to Quito. Having everything figured out (and remaining wary, assuming everything would change again), we decided to go for dinner at the Kelsey's nearby. It was interesting at the very least - our server was ridiculously awkward and we were nearly convinced that we were going to be on Undercover Boss. Eventually, we went to bed and prepared to wake up at 4:30 am for our flight. 

Day Two

We woke up at 4:30 and took the 5:05 shuttle as planned. We thought everything was going smoothly, until we realized that only three of us had received two boarding passes, and as a result, the other three would have to pick up our bags and re-check-in. Also, one of the rows that we were scheduled to sit in was overbooked or something so a few of us got bumped up to Economy Plus seating for free - basically, more leg room. Nice, but definitely not worth paying for. When we arrived in Houston, Alanna, Madi and I went to get our bags, and coming back in, Security stopped Alanna and searched her stuff thoroughly, poor girl. The last thing we wanted was more stress. They eventually let her through and we all joined for lunch, and hung out for the hours that we had until our next flight. Other than being delayed by almost an hour, Our next flight went as planned, and we arrived in Quito at around 11:00 pm or 12:00 am. We met up with David and Francisco at the airport, and got dropped of at the homes of our host families. I unpacked, and we went to bed.