Blog #3 - Otavalo y Cotacachi

My favorite experience today would probably be the opportunities to shop and spend time with my classmates in both Otavalo and Cotacachi. Spending time talking with David was really awesome too. In Otavalo, shopping with classmates, bartering, and speaking in Spanish with the indigenous people of Ecuador about the goods they had for sale (and that I was interested in) were all important to my experiences today. Although it is only the second day, I feel so much closer to my classmates. I know much more about their personal lives than I did before and I enjoy talking with them a lot. In Cotacachi, it was nice to be able to peruse and shop in small groups after I had spent my money in Otavalo and talking with David at the coffee shop and outside the bus was great. He’s so nice and he’s interested in our lives, and that feels great.

At Otavalo and at our lunch at Claudia’s house, I learned that the indigenous people of Ecuador are incredibly kind, but persistent. At Otavalo, the venders were always willing to negotiate the price and were patient with our Spanish skills. They were also incredibly kind. Some, however, were very persistent and would continue their conversation (or lack thereof) with you as you were walking away and had already said no like the sunglasses and belt salespeople. At the indigenous house, the kindness was also extended via our meal and the music, and the persistence keeps the indigenous true to their heritage.


Behaviors of mine that have been possibly ethnocentric so far have been assuming that the people of Ecuador that I meet don’t know English/only speak Spanish. This morning on our walk to class, Carly and I walked past a few people who I greeted with “Buenos dias!” Two guys who were setting up their food truck for the day greeted us first with “Good morning!” which took me by surprise. I didn’t expect them to speak English. To change it, I will just try to keep from assuming that all Ecuadorians speak little to no Spanish. Hopefully I can not be taken by surprise when I am spoken to in English. 

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