The most interesting place I visited was the ice cream shop with my friend in downtown Ibarra (which I talked about before in the “best meal” section). This ice cream shop serves traditional helado (ice cream) de paila (a big pan). Helado de paila is fruit flavored ice cream and has the consistency of a creamy slushie. To make it, you get a pile of shaved ice and add salt to make the ice colder. Then, you put a large pan (the paila) on top and add the ingredients (which I don’t really know!). Then, you spin the pan very fast while mixing the ingredients until it thickens and becomes ice cream. This particular shop was the original helado de paila shop. While you can find this type of ice cream in many places in Ecuador, it was really cool to visit the shop that invented it!
While walking around in downtown Ibarra one day after work, I explored Parque Pedro Moncayo, which is sort of like Ibarra’s city center. On one side of the park is the Catedral de Ibarra, or the "Cathedral of Ibarra". Ecuador is a predominantly Catholic country, so pretty much every city’s central area has at least one big church. Even for people who aren’t religious, it is important to explore churches and other significant buildings because religion is an important part of most cultures. While waiting for a friend before dinner, I walked into the Cathedral and looked at the beautiful architecture and listened to the peaceful, relaxing music.
