Hola! I’m Keilana, the very first leader of the day.

It’s an honor to be able to share the many amazing activities we engaged in today!

We started the day with a field trip to the Pucara Tambo Centro Cultural y Turístico located in Cacha, Chimborazo. It was a clear, warm day with a beautiful view of the city which is pictured here. After receiving a brief tour of the accommodations we all took part in a spiritual cleansing ceremony which involved a bundle of herbs like rosemary, eucalyptus, and indigenous plants like ‘ortega’ and being tapped from head to toe with the bundle. This was to promote blood flow and positive energy. There was also another ritual with an egg being rubbed on the person’s limbs and torso and then cracked open to reveal a white substance that represented the persons bad energy leaving their body. It was really awesome! From there we ventured into a hut filled with many artifacts of the Cacha community. We took a look at the traditional clothing of these people, which was handcrafted using either lamb or llama cotton. We even saw the looms by which they made their textiles. The guide explained that the many articles of clothing had a special significance weaved into it. For example, one poncho had a design that represented the months of the year, so the chief who would’ve worn it was literally a walking calendar! Next we visited the gift shop which had many replications of the traditional wear, it was even handmade! Everyone picked up a memento of their visit to Cacha.

Next we returned to our hotel, La Primavera, where we walked to the nearby bus stop. We travelled via public transportation on a short ride to the city center where we visited a school with an extravagant chapel. Our program coordinators had originally planned to host our dance class in the school courtyard however it started to rain, good thing we all brought our raincoats! We left to go to the Folkloríco dance group’s studio where we learned and followed along to 5 different routines from each province of Ecuador. The dancers even wore the clothing native to that region! They were so beautiful and colorful. It was a very memorable experience, and what a workout! Everybody did great and we had lots of fun, it was definitely a popular favorite amongst our group. I absolutely loved it! Even better, we got to try on an outfit! The boys wore fur pants and the girls wore colorful shawls. Lastly, we all performed a circle dance all together with the dance instructor in the middle. All too soon the music ended, but with uplifted spirits we departed from the studio and back to our hotel to prepare for the next day full of fun.

To my parents: I’m having such a great time here! I love the cultural immersion and am really glad I signed up to be the leader for this particular day. Don’t worry about me, I’m worried about you!

Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s blog by the new Leader of the Day: Candice!!!