4-Day Weekend
So I took the liberty last week of giving myself a 4-day weekend in order to travel to Guayaquil with my host fam because they have family there. The bus ride took about 9 hours--joy! Here´s what I enjoy about the bus rides: seeing the countryside, relaxing, reading, and sleeping. Here´s what I don´t enjoy about the bus rides: they play a succession of either absolutely atrocious or extremely violent and loud action movies (usually movies that fit both those categories). So that was pretty special. It was kind of like riding ¨Machistas R Us¨Bus Company. But looking on the comical side of things, it was good to know that Steven Seagal has still managed to find work here and there. I think as a result I´m also a little bit tougher and am not quite as phased by movie gore as I was before. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I´m not sure...
Anyhoo, the other interesting point about the bus ride there was that about 1 hour away from the city we got pulled over by the po-po. We had to get off the bus while they searched it and also checked all of our documents. They did this to make sure that no one was carrying weapons or drugs. I didn´t exactly relish the idea of random po going through my unmentionables, but figured that safety was certainly worth it.
Guayaquil itself was really fun! It´s a port city and reminded me a lot of Miami. It was very hot and also humid as well--really different from Quito. We stayed with Alejandro and Manoly´s cousin, Fidel. He is super funny and really friendly. Something that took a little while to get used to (and I´m not sure I´m actually used to it even now) is the accent in Guayaquil and the coast: it´s a lot faster, they swallow certain consonant sounds (such as s´s sometimes), and they tend to shorten words and sounds by blending them. It´s altogether pretty different, but I felt like I had achieved something quasi-important when I could actually understand what Fidel was saying.
Aside from playing lots of cards, doing lots of chatting as well as some cooking, Friday I walked around the part of town we were staying in and did a little window shopping. Saturday I spent the evening in a sector of the city called Malecón (more touristy); I walked along the dock that´s over the river Guayas, did some more window shopping, and climbed about 500 steps to get to one of the main tourist attractions, a lighthouse that you can climb and from which you can view the city. It was definitely breathtaking (the climb and the view from the top!) but totally worth it.
Sunday we left Guayaquil to go to Montalvo, which is about 2 hours away or so. Fidel´s parents and his sisters live there and own a tourist complex, so again, we had free lodging and food. The complex was beautiful--not necessarily ¨modern¨but definitely comfortable and situated in a gorgeous location. On the grounds there were two pools, water slides, and tons of vegetation, flowers, greenery, etc, and it´s located near a river and mountains which provide a stunning backdrop.
As luck would have it, when we arrived at the complex there was a camera crew there filming a promotional segment about Montalvo and its tourist attractions, and the family´s complex was getting some airtime. Before I knew what was happening, they grabbed me to make a statement inviting people to come and enjoy the complex. I must admit, I wasn´t super thrilled about this because I hatehatehate being filmed, especially for a tv program which will air across an entire country, and especiallyyyy speaking a foreign language. Gah! But I ended up doing it because I felt obligated to help out the family and so on because it was an important opportunity for them to publicize their place. I memorized a short statement and did it--I was so nervous! But what´s done is done. The program airs in 3 or 4 weeks--I haven´t decided whether I´m going to watch it or not, haha. Yes, I am that opposed to seeing myself butcher the Spanish language that I would pass up relishing my 15 seconds of fame. Who knows, maybe I´ll get over myself and take a peek. Either way, I´ll have the opportunity to watch it over and over because my fam is going to tape it. Oh. Goody. :P
Anyhoo, after the filming I went with Alejandro and Fidel´s sisters, Gabriela and Erika (really sweet girls and only 1 or 2 years younger than me) to a neighboring town to buy some ¨vino de naranja¨(orange wine which was sooo tasty--very sweet and has a rich flavor, but it definitely creeps up on you because you feel like you´re drinking spiced juice). This was by far one of the coolest parts of my trip so far, even though it might not sound like it: our mode of transportation was riding in a chiva, which is kind of a truck/bus. In other words, the sides are open and there are a bunch of benches to sit on in the middle. However, you can also climb onto the roof and ride there, even though there aren´t seats--which is what we did! Ahhh it was so freakin cool (and safe, for those of you who are worrywarts--there were railings around the edge to make sure you don´t fall and the chivas don´t go very fast because they´re traveling on small country roads). It was amazing riding so high on a vehicle, feeling the breeze as we went along, watching all the locals, and taking in the countryside which is super lush and very picturesque because of the flowers, colorful houses, mountains, mist, river, and so on. To top it off, it was starting to become dusk, so the sky was lit up with beautiful pastel colors. It was truly an amazing experience and one of my favorites in Ecuador so far.
Now I´m back in Quito finishing up my last week of classes. This week I´m devoting some time to looking for apartments so I can stay here longer (at least 6 months, hopefully even a year!). After that, the next step will be finding a job to generate some income so I can support myself, and then after that figuring out all the paper work, visas, and so on. It´s all very much a process and at times a little over-stimulating, but to me it definitely feels worth it.
Anyhoo, the other interesting point about the bus ride there was that about 1 hour away from the city we got pulled over by the po-po. We had to get off the bus while they searched it and also checked all of our documents. They did this to make sure that no one was carrying weapons or drugs. I didn´t exactly relish the idea of random po going through my unmentionables, but figured that safety was certainly worth it.
Guayaquil itself was really fun! It´s a port city and reminded me a lot of Miami. It was very hot and also humid as well--really different from Quito. We stayed with Alejandro and Manoly´s cousin, Fidel. He is super funny and really friendly. Something that took a little while to get used to (and I´m not sure I´m actually used to it even now) is the accent in Guayaquil and the coast: it´s a lot faster, they swallow certain consonant sounds (such as s´s sometimes), and they tend to shorten words and sounds by blending them. It´s altogether pretty different, but I felt like I had achieved something quasi-important when I could actually understand what Fidel was saying.
Aside from playing lots of cards, doing lots of chatting as well as some cooking, Friday I walked around the part of town we were staying in and did a little window shopping. Saturday I spent the evening in a sector of the city called Malecón (more touristy); I walked along the dock that´s over the river Guayas, did some more window shopping, and climbed about 500 steps to get to one of the main tourist attractions, a lighthouse that you can climb and from which you can view the city. It was definitely breathtaking (the climb and the view from the top!) but totally worth it.
Sunday we left Guayaquil to go to Montalvo, which is about 2 hours away or so. Fidel´s parents and his sisters live there and own a tourist complex, so again, we had free lodging and food. The complex was beautiful--not necessarily ¨modern¨but definitely comfortable and situated in a gorgeous location. On the grounds there were two pools, water slides, and tons of vegetation, flowers, greenery, etc, and it´s located near a river and mountains which provide a stunning backdrop.
As luck would have it, when we arrived at the complex there was a camera crew there filming a promotional segment about Montalvo and its tourist attractions, and the family´s complex was getting some airtime. Before I knew what was happening, they grabbed me to make a statement inviting people to come and enjoy the complex. I must admit, I wasn´t super thrilled about this because I hatehatehate being filmed, especially for a tv program which will air across an entire country, and especiallyyyy speaking a foreign language. Gah! But I ended up doing it because I felt obligated to help out the family and so on because it was an important opportunity for them to publicize their place. I memorized a short statement and did it--I was so nervous! But what´s done is done. The program airs in 3 or 4 weeks--I haven´t decided whether I´m going to watch it or not, haha. Yes, I am that opposed to seeing myself butcher the Spanish language that I would pass up relishing my 15 seconds of fame. Who knows, maybe I´ll get over myself and take a peek. Either way, I´ll have the opportunity to watch it over and over because my fam is going to tape it. Oh. Goody. :P
Anyhoo, after the filming I went with Alejandro and Fidel´s sisters, Gabriela and Erika (really sweet girls and only 1 or 2 years younger than me) to a neighboring town to buy some ¨vino de naranja¨(orange wine which was sooo tasty--very sweet and has a rich flavor, but it definitely creeps up on you because you feel like you´re drinking spiced juice). This was by far one of the coolest parts of my trip so far, even though it might not sound like it: our mode of transportation was riding in a chiva, which is kind of a truck/bus. In other words, the sides are open and there are a bunch of benches to sit on in the middle. However, you can also climb onto the roof and ride there, even though there aren´t seats--which is what we did! Ahhh it was so freakin cool (and safe, for those of you who are worrywarts--there were railings around the edge to make sure you don´t fall and the chivas don´t go very fast because they´re traveling on small country roads). It was amazing riding so high on a vehicle, feeling the breeze as we went along, watching all the locals, and taking in the countryside which is super lush and very picturesque because of the flowers, colorful houses, mountains, mist, river, and so on. To top it off, it was starting to become dusk, so the sky was lit up with beautiful pastel colors. It was truly an amazing experience and one of my favorites in Ecuador so far.
Now I´m back in Quito finishing up my last week of classes. This week I´m devoting some time to looking for apartments so I can stay here longer (at least 6 months, hopefully even a year!). After that, the next step will be finding a job to generate some income so I can support myself, and then after that figuring out all the paper work, visas, and so on. It´s all very much a process and at times a little over-stimulating, but to me it definitely feels worth it.
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