Worry not friends, although I very seriously considered never leaving the ideal surf town of Canoa ever ever again (seriously), I have returned to the real world...but only begrudgingly. Of course, in Quito right now it´s raining and the temperature is hovering right around 45 F...if anyone has a suggestion as to why I should be here as opposed to napping in a hammock in a cabaña on the Pacific...let me know.
We left for Canoa (a little surfing town 30 minutes north of Bahía de Caraquez, home of my host mother) last Thursday night at around 11:30 in the night. Needless to say, the bus ride was painful. As I´ve repeatedly learned, the Ecuadorian infrastructure wasn´t built for people over 5´8" and my 7 hour bus ride served as a great reminder. It was pretty amazing that we dropped almost two miles in 7 hours and arrived at the ocean right at sunrise. Our bus dropped us off in Bahía and we took the ferryish boats to San Vicente (the ugly cousin of Bahía after it was destroyed by El Niño) and hopped on a bus to Canoa.
After looking around for a little bit we found an amazing hostel a few blocks from the beach called Hostal Posada de Daniel (check out the pictures, it really was pretty sweet). Everyone quickly settled into one of the many hammocks around the hostel for a mid-morning nap. The nap attempts were hampered by some kind of school parade that marched around our block for about 2 hours...very bizarre. After a quick nap we found a restaurant that Kristin´s guide book guarenteed would have amazing pancakes. We definitely weren´t disappointed and ate breakfast there all three days (they also had a cat that looked exactly like my cat Duke from home, check out the picture Lauren, you´ll freak out).
We finally found our way to the beach in the afternoon and settled into our oceanside routine. Although the weather wasn´t typical good-beach-weather, it was almost perfect for what we were looking for. In the morning it was usually pretty raining and chilly so we didn´t feel bad sleeping in, playing pool, and generally lounging (preferrably in hammocks). After brunch it would start to clear up so that by the time we got to the beach it would be pretty warm with partly cloudy skies. The beach was also more or less perfect; not crowded at all but with a sufficient number of people, very long and clean, and with warm Pacific water and impressive waves.
The only other distinct part of the weekend (seriously, 3 days of just beach, hammocks, and beer) was when Anna and I, after struggling to find a bus back to Canoa after we went ATM-hunting in Bahía, hopped in the back of a fruit vender´s truck and ate watermelon with his son, Marcelo for the whole ride. The man wouldn´t let us pay but we bought two delicious watermelon from him instead. We took another fruit truck when we left Canoa and got really good oranges out of that trip.
This week has been pretty standard: internship, homework, class, hanging out with friends/family, internship again. My relationship with my internship has been pretty up and down lately. One day I´ll feel completely useless, frustrated, and entirely lacking in anything resembling Spanish skills. The very next day however, the kids will listen to me and tell me about their families, my Spanish will be practically flawless, and I feel completely content. I guess as long as sides stay balanced (with an increasing shift to the positive) I´m doing ok. This week we´re also supposed to start on our independent study projects so I´ll keep you updated on the progress. Hope everyone´s well!
Coming Soon: taking my kids to Mindo
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