Day 6

It was market day today! After a later start to the day, we headed to Otavallo to shop at the market. Everyone was excited to have a chance to purchase some souvenirs to bring home. When we arrived, we split into several smaller groups to shop. It was fun to shop and then run into another group and compare what we had bought and what kind of a deal we had made. Many members of our team had fun making deals with the vendors and practiced a lot of numbers in Spanish… As well as the art of walking away when you were not satisfied with the price. Most of the time the vendor chased us down and settled on the lower price without any problem.

We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant the overlooked the square where the market was held. It was fun for us to experience some Ecuadorian Football as well since there was a soccer game on the TV and there were many cheers when Bolivia 🇧🇴 made a goal.

After lunch we headed a bit further down the road to Cotacachi a town that specializes in making leather goods. We only had 45 minutes to shop here but it seemed to be enough time as some people didn’t care to buy anything here and chose to enjoy a cup of coffee while others shopped. There were a few wallets, belts and purses purchased. We headed back to the hotel which was over an hour drive.

Very shortly after we arrived at the hotel our dinner guests showed up. We hosted the Lanchimba family for dinner tonight. This is a family that our team leaders Mark and Sue have known since 2008. One of their daughters, Blanca, worked at the school near Lote Tres which is how we met them (Blanca has a 9 year old daughter named Camilla – after the Camilla on our team) The father of this family was asked to share his testimony with our group. It is a story of God’s amazing grace and timing as well as His protection. Ricardo was one of the very first Christians in his indigenous community was heavily persecuted for his beliefs. He was almost set on fire twice, was chased into the mountains afraid to return to his home, chased down the roads while others threw stones at him and more. This man has an amazing faith and even though he lives in the city is still helping to lead his indigenous community church. We were all so blessed by his testimony and by the visit from his family.

We were able to say our goodbyes and most of the team headed to bed… Shopping in the hot sun was a bit exhausting. We are all looking forward to another day in Lote Tres tomorrow.