I never really thought I would ever visit a South American country, let alone Ecuador. However, once my sister became engaged to an Ecuadorian and planned on having her wedding there it became an important destination.

Upon writing this, it has only been about a week and a half since my family and I have gotten back from the warm (the temperature stays about 70 degrees all year long) South American country, though it already feels like a large amount of time has passed. After spending a week there I have acquired many memories and seen a multitude of things.

First of all, the fresh juice you can buy there tastes amazing; it is incredibly refreshing. It is also nowhere near as processed as juice made here in America. The vast variety of fruits Ecuadorians have available to them is also stunning. While walking through the narrow streets of Cuenca, the third-largest city in the country, many vendors had wheelbarrows filled to the brim with cherries, strawberries and fruits I couldn't even recognize.

My family wandered through Cuenca and the rural towns and mountains surrounding it with my sister Elizabeth, her husband Andres, a native of Ecuador, and his family members as our guides. The beautiful churches that were spread throughout the city astounded us. Their intricate artwork and grandness of decorations was not something I was used to seeing, and traveling up into the Andes Mountains was also a great experience.

We went to Cajas, which is a national park filled with beautiful mountain lakes, and saw a few wild llamas along the side of the road. The air up in the mountains was very pure, but the altitude made it difficult to breathe at times, especially when walking uphill. Even climbing the stairs at my sister's apartment building could leave me slightly winded. There didn't seem to be any snow on the mountain peaks, which was curious to me. I had seen mountains of that height before when I went on vacation in Alaska and was accustomed to seeing them blanketed in snow.

Andres took us to his family's newspaper, El Tiempo. His grandfather had started the paper, and it is one of the major newspapers in Cuenca. Andres' dad had created a small museum filled with some of the old equipment that was once used. We toured the building and saw the reporters working on stories for the next day. It was interesting to see the enormous rolls of paper they used every morning to print the newspaper.

The next day we went back up into the mountains to view Incan ruins. It was a very long and bumpy drive to the site, but it was well worth it. The ruins were quite remarkable due to the fact that the settlement reminded me vaguely of a small development. The houses, albeit small, were built next to each other and similarly designed as houses are in developments today, with a communal water and sewage system. Another unique feature the site held was what appeared to be an Incan face carved out of rocks on the side of one of the mountain. There were large tufts of grass growing on it; it made look like it had a mustache.

I enjoyed my trip to Ecuador immensely despite the fact that I spoke no Spanish and Spanish speakers surrounded me. My sisters and brother-in-law helped out a lot, though quite a few people spoke very good English. When I met Andres' nieces I was very impressed with their English-speaking skills. They had been taught English in school for years, and I thought that it was a great idea to start teaching foreign languages at a younger age.

Ecuador was an incredible place to travel. I experienced a very different culture, new foods and took in many wondrous sights. I had a lot of fun taking in the city Cuenca and driving through the mountains. It was most definitely a trip to remember.

freestyle@lnpnews.com