Experience the Culture

By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
Next, we went to a nearby town where the celebration of Inti Rayme was in full swing. The indigenous people celebrate their own version of the summer solstice with drinking Canela – a fermented lemony, sugary alcohol. They drink for a whole week nonstop! Wow! They wore chap-like pants with lots of fur. Llama possibly? In addition, wear pink masks, originally to make fun of the sunburnt Espanolas, or masks of demons and wolves, and dogs, and such. They also wear lots of mirrors, thought to protect them by capturing the souls of men inside. Each town celebrates just a little differently due to the different tribes of people living there. In one town, the riot police were in full swing just in case fights broke out.
As if the whole day wasn't great already, we took rooms in a hacienda outside of Imbaburra, a town known for it's white buildings. This place was more of a resort. The main building was centered around a courtyard of begonias and table with umbrellas. I actually had a room with a bathroom-shower inside and a huge bed all to myself. There was a chandelier over the bed! None of us in the group were expecting such luxury. And this was all included in the price of our program. Down a little path between more small buildings of rooms was a sauna, spa, and steam room. My eyes wouldn't let me go though, they just wanted to be closed and in bed.
Dinner was equally amazing, in a grand house in the middle of who knows where. We could see the southern cross and the big dipper in the same sky on the walk to the house. We talked a lot that night and it was interesting to hear about the interests of those in the group. Most of them are in Osteopathic school, which focuses more on holistic and alternative medicine. None of them, except the Anesthesiologist of 20 years of course, had really had much experience in the hospital except me. So we traded stories and discussed our intentions for the future. Most of them are really interested in traveling and want to do study abroad as much as possible.