A Day in the Life

Views of the inactive volcano, Tayta Imbabura, from one of our morning hikes. 


5AM – 8AM               Wake up, with hours depending on whether or not we will take a morning 
          hike around the volcano. I awake with the all-natural alarms of geese 
          honking, roosters crowing, and the baby cow mooing for more milk.  


8AM – 9AM           Make breakfast and set up the table. Breakfast is usually a bowl of fruits, 
           a steaming cup of milk, bread, and a boiled egg. But sometimes, we will 
          eat leftovers from, say, the Christmas dinner. 


9AM-9:30AM            Prepare my lunch to take to my apprenticeship, Museo Otavalango. 
          Lunch is usually rice, stir-fried vegetables, and any other leftover 
          meat/dishes they have. 


9:30AM-10:15AM    Take the bus and walk to my apprenticeship. I wait right in front of my 
         house and wave at the bus for it to stop. It takes me to the Otavalo 
         terminal, from where I transfer onto another bus bound for Quiroga. I ask 
         the driver to drop me off at the traffic light, from where I walk about 5   
         minutes to get to the museum. 


10:15AM-11AM       Chill out with Diana (the cook) and the Zambrano family in the kitchen, 
         often learning Spanish jokes and discovering more about the Kichwa 
         culture. 


11AM-1PM             Make lunch with Diana while discovering more about her life as a 
        Colombian refugee. 


1PM-3PM               Enjoy lunch with everyone. 


3PM-5PM               Teach English class. Although some of the English-speaking tourists do 
        come in the morning, most of them come around this time. I then have to 
        pause English class and give the tourists an English tour of the museum.


5PM-6PM               Go back home. 


6PM-11PM             Everyday varies. Sometimes, the house is very quiet or Mama Rosita 
        has clients/friends she talks to, so I stay in my room to read books, 
        discover new Spanish music, watch Spanish films on Netflix, plan future    
        travels, surf the web, or exercise on the elliptical in my room. Other times, 
        my abuela, tia, tio, and 3 primos from Mama Rosita’s side come over to 
        chat and have a bit of food. Cynthi (my host sister) and I usually join the 
        conversation with a hot cup of lemon water or tea with bread. While the 

         adults are talking, us wawaitos are normally sharing Facebook memes.