It has now been officially a week and a day in Ecuador and not counting the fact that I can´t get to my photographic documentation (see post below), things are good.
One of my most notable trips has been to the Mercado de los Animalos (animal market) in Otavalo, two hours north of Quito. The market is organized by size of animal starting with little chicks, hens, roosters and geese moving on to guinea pigs (also known as cuy, pronounced coo-ee), cats, dogs, pigs, sheep and eventually llamas and cows. It is pretty awesome...I have no other word for it. People come in every Saturday morning with their ¨wares¨and customers pour in from nearby towns and villages. I saw two kinds of rooster backpacks...one where the rooster is tied up to hold other items and the other, a sling carrying a rooster. Possibly the most interesting sight was someone putting chicks in a brown paper bag with holes in it...I think I pick up chocolate with more caution.
Following that was the Mercado de las Frutas (fruit market) - in addition to all the fruits that are so delightfully plentiful in India, there have also been tomat d´arbol (tree tomato), pepiño, sapota (no, it´s not the same thing as chikoo here) and tuna (not the fish but a spiny fruit that is orange with tons of seeds that can be eaten). I do have pictures and they are all very interesting to see...but currently not accessible. Sigh.
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