While this was not my favorite food I tried while in Ecuador, the most noteworthy was what they call Cuy, we call it Guniea Pig. I did not have an expectation for it so I cannot say it was not what I expected, but it was not bad. They flavored it really well, it was just very tough to chew sometimes. They call it Cuy because of the sound they make. If someone enters your house and the guinea pigs start making a “cuy” sound then you should be cautious around that person. The Cuy are larger than their U.S counterparts, so eating them was not the equivalent of going grocery shopping at PetSmart. Cuy are brought out for special occasions, the reason they brought them out was that it was my birthday. Our host families also made me a birthday cake for dessert after the Cuy. I was very grateful for their kindness and even though my family was not with me on my birthday, I still felt had a great time and was surrounded by lots of nice new friends. That cake we ate was actually my third in 24 hours since apparently all of Ecuador knew it was my birthday. The first was at dinner the night before, where we ate accompanied by music from an Andean band who sang me happy birthday. Then the next day we went canyoning and the travel agency also got me a custom cake. I had not before had that much cake in such a short span of time but it sure was awesome and I would definitely do it again. Thanks to Dr. Mullaugh telling our guide my birthday was coming up and the warmth of the people in Ecuador I got to celebrate my birthday three times. It will definitely be one of my most memorable birthdays and I know my family was very happy that I was able to celebrate it even if they could not be present