Manicures and Markets

[A few market pictures added.]

We had last Saturday free, so I decided I was going to treat myself since there wasn't much else to do (good excuse, right?! Completely legit though, I promise ;)    ). My host sister had told me one day that she got a manicure for only $3. I've never gotten a manicure so I decided now was a good time, especially for so cheap. I asked my host mom if there were any places near the house where I could go, expecting her to just give me directions. But no, she drove me there and was so excited for me. She told me if she were a billionaire (her words, promise; except in Spanish), she would get a manicure all the time; she loves doing that sort of stuff, she said. So we get there and the ladies that work there gave me a little guide to look at. Well, those nail designs were QUITE elaborate. I'm a pretty simple girl, nothing too fancy. My host mom sat there, looking with me, pointing at all the ones with the flowers and butterflies, saying how pretty they were and how I should get those; I told her I liked the more simple designs. We had to wait a while because there was another lady before me. My host mom asked if it was okay if she went home because my host dad needed the car and if I knew how to get home (she asked this of the girl who didn't know how to get from school to her house until she was probably a sophomore in high school...). I was like "uhhhhh..." She told me what street we were on and that I just needed to turn up it to find the street we lived on. Easy enough, right? I figured I knew how to get home because I knew of the street she mentioned. Anyway, back to my manicure. I decided on this lovely plum hue with a single silver sparkly stripe across the top. Oh, it was so nice to have someone else paint my fingernails; I usually make a big mess of it. Then I asked the nice lady how much it cost, and she said TWO DOLLARS! Woohoo! What a steal! I went to reach into my pocket for the money, and she was like, "No! You'll ruin your fingernails!" (in Spanish, of course). So she got her 2 dollars out of my pocket, and I was on my merry way. I was so disoriented when I walked out the door. I went the wrong way for probably 4 blocks total (2 blocks each in different WRONG directions), then headed in a way I thought MIGHT be right. I was very unsure for the first 4 or 5 blocks, but then I finally got to a street I recognized. Hallelujah! I was going the right way! I'm pretty sure I took the long way home, but at least I made it, right?

Sunday, we had a group trip to Gualeceo and Chordeleg, two cities that are within 10 minutes of each other and 1 hour of Cuenca. Gualeceo has a really big food market- chancho galore, cuy, and about a million other types of Ecuadorian food. Mmmmm they had morocho (which meant that I had morocho too ;)   ), which is definitely up there on my "favorite Ecuadorian food and drink list" (if I had one). Okay, so it's a warm drink that has milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and (don't judge) chopped up pieces of corn. So yes, you do have to chew your drink, and it sounds nasty, but WOW it's incredible. My family made some last week, and it was better than the stuff from the market. Super tasty. I told my mom we were going to have to try making some when I get home. After the Gualaceo market, we went to Chordeleg, which is known for having lots of silver jewelry. We wandered that the market/ stores for about an hour. I found presents for my niecey-poos and nephew, so that was super exciting. I got them all the same thing to avoid fights. I won't tell what they are though, so their respective moms can be surprised too :) (Madison and Leah know though because I told them on Skype today- oops). 

I haven’t yet loaded my pictures of the markets onto my computer (thus, I don’t even know if they’re worth posting); if they are decent, I’ll try to put some up tomorrow or Thursday. Until then, you can enjoy a picture of my manicure ;) I wanted to capture the beauty before I went and chipped them up (because we know that’s bound to happen). On the manicurist’s defense, though, they’ve held up quite well the past 3 days.