June 20 Day trip to Otavalo

Karen (my first roommate at Ana Maria's) and I took a bus 2 Saturdays ago to Otavalo to enjoy the ginormous outdoor market. Karen stayed with us for a week while she took language classes. She is finishing up her undergrad at Vanderbilt and then going on to med school. Last Friday, she left for the Galapagos Islands to volunteer in a clinic doing medical stuff. LUCKY GIRL!!!! 6 weeks on the islands?? Can you say HEAVEN?? More interestingly, her parents are both work for NASA, mom is an astronaut/doctor and dad a pilot, living in Houston (Joanne, her hometown is VERY near to Webster). Quite the interesting conversations hearing about her life. Her parents are Ken and Ellen Baker for those of you interested in looking up bios on NASA. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/baker-e.html .

Otavalo was a blast walking around, shopping and enjoying some of the local foods...a huge plantain that was fried right out on the fire and some fruits. It was like the town was painted in hand crafts, animals, and people! Bought some fun stuff! Any requests out there? I'll be returning in a few weeks. It rained on us but that didn't dampen our spirits. The bus ride was $2.00 each way. Cheap entertainment!!