Shopping and Salsa!

Thankfully the strikes seemed to have disappeared by Friday and I managed to get to Otavalo by lunchtime. I checked into a pretty little hostal and then went to check out the town. Otavalo is known in Ecuador (and in South America) for being the place to buy handicrafts, especially woven ones. However, I promised myself that I couldn´t buy anythink until the next day (Saturday) which was proper market day. So that afternoon I went to El Parque Condor, a small park about 4km from town where a dutch couple rehabilitate birds of prey and owls. It was nice, except for the cages seemed kind of small. The most awesome thing was that just as I was about to leave I bumped into a very good friend of mine (Texas Megan) who I knew from the GVI project in Arequipa. It was amazing. She was travelling with a couple of friends and they were on their way up to Colombia but got stuck in Otavalo because of the strikes so had decided to stay a few days. It was so nice to finally get to talk to someone who actually knew me rather than having to introduce myself! I also got to hear all the gossip from Arequipa. On Saturday I spent pretty much the whole day shopping and on the Sunday I went back to Quito. I did have plans to go to Mindo, a small town about 2 hours north of Quito, but was worried the strikes would start up again and that I´d get stuck there.
On Monday I spent the day wandering around the old town, this time actually using my guidebook to know what things were. i watched the changing of the guard at the president´s residence on the Plaza Grande, it was extremely elaborate and pompous! I also went to this amazing cathedral which was built in the 20th century and instead of the traditional gargoyles, it has lizards and birds and other animals that are famous to Ecuador. I also got to climb up the bell tower and the clock tower. Climbing the bell tower was a slightly hairy experience, you had to walk along a narrow walkway over the inside roof of the cathedral and then climb up a few precarious feeling ladders to get to the top. It was worth it though, the view was awesome.
On Tuesday I began my salsa lessons, I squeezed 10 hours into 3 days. I had an amazing teacher, Luis, who spun me round and round until I was completely dizzy from not ´spotting´enough or completely out of breath from the lack of oxygen at this altitude! I am hooked though, salsa is so much fun. There are basically three steps that you do the whole time and you just follow the signals that your partner gives you for when you should spin or turn or move this way or that way. I miss it already and am definately going to have to look for a salsa club or class or something when I get home.
Last night, I met Pilar, a cousin of one of Dad´s friends who lives in Quito. She took me out around the city and then we met her sister and went for dinner in a little cafe that had amazing views of the city. It was really nice and we ate some amazing ecuatorian food.