We rode with her host dad and one of his coworkers to Guayaquil in his car, which is nice because it’s faster than the bus. The road between Portoviejo and Guayaquil is terrible. I spent most of the trip somewhere between the seat and the roof of the car. We took the bus from Guayaquil to Cuenca. We didn’t have the best luck either- in the first minute of the trip, the bus had stalled out at least 10 times. It also had a max speed of about 30 miles an hour. On flat ground. Aaaaaaaaand pretty much the whole trip was uphill. Needless to say, it took a while. At least an hour longer than it should have.
We did arrive in Cuenca eventually. The bus decided to drop us off outside of town though, because he said there was too much traffic. So we walked to a city-bus station and then took a taxi to a hotel. We left our stuff at the hotel and went exploring. That night, we went on a bus tour around the city.
The next morning we got up early and went to a city outside of Cuenca called Chordeleg, which is famous for selling ‘inca gold’. Pretty much all they have in this tiny little town are shops that sell jewelry and shops that make shoes. The town is gorgeous though. We went back to Cuenca for lunch, which we ate at a market. We ate meat from a pig that still had a head and a tail and had been roasted whole, which was gross to look at, but very tasty. When we left the market, we saw a horse walking along the streets of Cuenca, probably delivering things to the market from the countryside. It was quite interesting- not something you see everyday in downtown Houston. That afternoon, we tried to go to the main museum in Cuenca, that was featuring a paintings by Guayasamin, but when we arrived at the museum, we found that it was closed, due to the energy shortages. We walked to another museum instead, and then to a store where they make Panama (Montecrisit) hats. Alexandra and I had a short fashion show and tried on at least ten million different hats, and then the owner of the store took us upstairs to a hotel that she owned. The view of the city was fantastic.
Later, we wandered around Cuenca, and in the evening, went to a hot springs just outside of Cuenca. Where I dropped my camera in the water. :(
Sunday morning we visited the cathedral in Cuenca and then went to the bus station to go home.
One of my favorite things that clearly separates the highlands from the coast is that the indigenous culture is so much stronger in the highlands. There are so many people- mostly women- walking around the streets of Cuenca in their traditional outfits, which are absolutely gorgeous.
This week there are three exchange students who live in Riobamba here visiting, one of which is staying in my house. So we’ve been busy doing things here. We’ve been to the beach twice, once when it was raining, and we have plans to go to the beach tomorrow and Saturday as well. :)
here are some pictures!
lunch!
me eating lunch. :)
fruits and vegetables at the market: 
fashion show at the panama hat factory:
eating a guaba:
some women dressed traditionally:
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