Last weekend my program took our last scheduled trip to Papallacta, natural hot springs located a little over an hour bus ride Northeast of Quito. The ride there was really beautiful, lots of mountains and valleys. It was kind of cold and drizzly but that didn't really affect the scenic views. Papallacta is at an elevation close to 4000 meters in what used to be a volcano. A guide told us that the volcano collapsed many years ago which is the source of the heat for the natural hot springs! Papallacta is in Quichwa (indigenous language here) for Land of the Potatoes (I hope I remembered that correctly). Also, had the weather been clear we would have been able to see a volcano (this seems to be trend for my program trips, 3 out of 4 the trips we've gone on we've missed out on seeing volcanoes due to the clouds).
Anyway we got changed and eased our way into the hot pools. At first it was too hot, but then it was just right. It started to rain a little bit, and that created a nice balance. There was a lot of steam coming from the water, and when there was a slight breeze the steam would float away creating a slightly foggy atmosphere. [So I only took one picture on this trip, and it wasn't even when we were at the hot springs... oops!] A group of people in my program just sat in the water and played a spelling game called "ghost." It was funny how animated and upset people would get when they lost. Afterward we ate a nice lunch. I ordered trout, probably freshly caught from the river nearby. It was delicious! The chocolate cake after the meal was wonderful, too. Then we just relaxed until it was time to leave. I took one picture on the bus ride back and many of us played another word game called "hanky-panky," it's a word game I promise.
It was a relaxing Saturday. When we got back to Cumbaya, a couple of us got some ice cream. At night we watched an inspiring documentary called "First Year," which followed a couple of first year teachers. Then we watched a documentary called "Please Vote for Me" which was about a third grade Chinese class having a democratic election for the class monitor/president. The second documentary reminded me of when I was in third grade in Taiwan. It was a good day.
The next day some of us went to a higher end coffee shop in Cumbaya, Juan Valdez, sort of like a Starbucks equivalent, and used their wireless internet. Great connection! We sat outside and eventually a lady started singing covers of debate-ably popular songs from the U.S. Overall a relaxing weekend.
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