Ecuador

Last Spring I went on a trip to Ecuador, it was definitely life changing and it was amazing. For school I had to write a speech to inform. So I thought I could inform others about the beauty of Ecuador... so I thought I would share it on here

Ecuador

Today I’m going to be talking about Ecuador, a place that is close to my heart. My experiences there made me stronger and I want to share my love of the beautiful  Ecuador. I loved every bit of what i saw there, everything from the mountains, to the people, to the food and even thair climate, and I would like to share this with you today.

The beautiful South American country of Ecuador, located in north western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru with an area of 256,370 sq ft. Within this area, Ecuador has the one of the greatest densities of volcanoes in the world and had many active volcanoes. Ecuador has a population of almost 14 million, its capital city of Quito, has 1.2 million of those citizens residing there. Its name “Ecuador” came from the word equator, since it is located over both sides of the hemisphere across the equator. The equator is seen marked by a yellow line following

 through the center of their monument known as Mitad Del Mundo, in english meaning “Middle of the World”, as seen here... Built in 1979 to 1982, it stands at 30 meters high, and is located in Pichincha.

Pichincha is also the location of the Pichincha Volcano, an “ultra” peak, meaning it is over 5,000 ft, standing at 5,420 ft and an elev you ation of 15,696. It is a peak in the Andes Mountains. In order to get to the top of the volcano, you take a 25 minute “sky-lift” rideo the top, where are high enough in elevation to where they have oxygen available for those who have trouble breathing at that elevation. This however is not the highest elevation point in Ecuador. The Chimborazo Volcano, at 6,310, forms the highest point, although, Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world.

   Cotacachi covers an area of 1809 sq. kilometers and 38,000 inhabitants. Cotacachi is known for its handicrafts in leather and wool. Cotacachi also has an agricultural production, especially in  dairy products, and in exportation of flowers and asparagus. From the town of Cotacachi it is a short distance from Cuicocha Lake, which is a 3 km wide crater lake, which lies at the foot of the Cotacachi volcano (4944 m above sea level). The people here belongs to the Indian tribe "Quichua de Andes" and they speak their own language Quichua. 

The Quichua people have many legends, including those of the Lagoon of Cui, it is the legend of The Golden Cuy, better known as Guinea Pigs. “Legend has it that many years ago in the islands of the lagoon Cuicocha, an imploded volcano, lived a guinea pig of gold. The one who could see this animal first was given power and fortune, but if the guinea pig first looked at you, you would die and your spirit would be transformed into a coot(a bird of the region).” *

In this region, there are also a certain ways that the Quichua people dress,  generally most of what the people wear is handcrafted in the village. Mainly it is the elders of the Quichua  that dress in their cultural wear. Males where hats, a 

white or blue button shirt, white pants and a dark woven poncho, females generally wear a cloth on their hear, hand embroidered blouses, long woven shirts, and shawls draped over their shirts. It was definitely quite surprising to see that the younger generations wore clothes closer to what we generaly wear with tshirts and jeans.

The food is also very different in these areas. We had food such as plantains, lots of rice and beans, baby octopus, guava, passionflower fruit, even fried small intestine of pigs which was definitely my very least favorite. Other traditional food that is common in Ecuador is many

meats and seafood, a very memorable sight of their cuisine that i saw was their cut cuy, which is roasted guinea pig.... >>> Cuy Cuy is considered a delicacy in Ecuador and is a traditional meal along with fruits of the region. 

Fruits are easily grown not only because most that live there are raised to farm but becasue of the warm climate and the frequent rain. During my time in ecuador we experienced the most rain theyv’e had in 50 years  during that season. Roads were washed out and embankments were torn apart. My group was lucky enough to not be caught in a situation such as this, however there were point on our drive to Quito from Banos that we had to evacuate our bus and walk across a 200foot stretch or road for fear that it would collapse into the river if our bus was too heavy to cross. We were very fortunate with this since the very road we walked across collapsed into the river later that day. 

I never thought that I would say that I experienced a country so beautiful and majestic that it will always remain a part of me and i will never forget my time in Ecuador. From the cities to the monuments, the lagoons, the mountains and volcanoes, the food, to the language and the people. This coming summer, I sincerely hope to have a chance to return to do mission work 3 weeks to help the people who touched my heart forever. I hope that at some point in your lives that you have a chance to experience this country that I love so much and let it change you as it did me.