No school on Friday!

Friday was a national holiday in Ecuador.  It is similar to the 4th of July in the United States, except it is not as celebrated.  We went on an all day excursion to different places around Quito.  Our first stop was a town called Otovalo.  This little town has a very famous market that has traditional Ecuadorian goods.  We shopped around there for about an hour or so bargaining to get the best deals possible.  If we thought a price was too high, all we would have to say is "No, vamos a ver (No, I am going to look)."   And they would instantly lower the price.  It was hilarious.

This is Lauren and I outside the Otovalo market.

Looking up the street from the market.  There are mountains back there but the clouds are covering them up.  

Otovalo from the outside.  We did not want to take pictures inside because we were afraid of being robbed.  The less attention you can draw to yourself, the better off you are.  

After Otovalo we took a tour bus to a volcano that has a crater lake.  The volcano is active but hasn't irrupted in thousands of years.  It was a beautiful sight.  We were lucky enough to be able to take a boat ride around the lake.  Unfortunately the pictures do not do it justice, they looked kind of lame in pictures.  But, here are the ones that turned out!

When the volcano erupted last, the top fell in and created these two mountains.  The lake came from all of the snow that was on the volcano at the time.  

Another view of the lake.

Our view on the boat ride.

Lauren and I enjoying the chilly breeze.  

After our boat ride, we went to a bird sanctuary/garden.  It was on the top of a mountain and it was truly beautiful!  Below are pictures of some of the flowers we saw there.

Friday evening our host family went to a wedding.  Carla and I were home alone for a few hours and it was nice to decompress and relax.  We have a busy Saturday and we are looking forward to it!