July 18, 2023

We started off our beautiful Tuesday morning with a chicken sandwich and a mix of tasty fruits (yummm). Then prepared for our trip Jatun Yachay Wasi which is the only certified indigenous University in Ecuador. They offer teachings of Andean and other indigenous knowledge and/or practices. When we arrived we were greeted by our dear friend Alejandro who guided us through una ceremonia sagrada (sacred ceremony). This ritual is known as Pachamanca, cooking inside the earth/ground. To start this process we must bless our food. We did this by creating a mandala whilst blessing the food. After we prepped the food, we began to set up our paila (big pot) inside the earth. We stepped aside as they placed feminine volcanic rocks in between different foods. While that was cooked, we visited Colta Lagoon and continued to expand our knowledge of indigenous culture. We then returned to our Pachamanca to feast on comida DELICIOSA from our dear PACHAMAMA! We returned to our hotel to change/prep for our business pitch to the headmaster of Yaruquies School. They ended up loving our mural pitch and thankfully have over  $100.00 to spare for other projects. We relaxed throughout the rest of the day and ended with a nice dinner of quinoa rice, pollo aguado and potatoes, followed by our nightly meeting where we handed off our leadership role over to Fernando and Nyla!

We learned a lot, we loved a lot, we had a good time! With BIG LOVE, Ife & Andrea signing out.

PEACE♡