Una Llegada Complicada

So it's almost been about a week since I first arrive in Ecuador, but it feels like it's been ages.

My trip got off to a pretty rocky start when Delta lost my luggage somewhere in Atlanta (I arrived in Quito in the middle of the night, alone and pretty much empty-handed), and got even rockier the next day when I had my semi-traumatic first experience with the Ecuadorian bus system. What was supposed to be a ten hour ride from Quito to Puerto Lopez turned into twelve hours of panicked confusion -- the bus that had promised to take me all the way to my final destination arbitrarily decided that it didn't feel like making the trip, and dropped me on the side of the road on the outskirts of a small town...in the middle of nowhere. It suffices to say that I was a little stressed to find myself in this situation, which was only exacerbated by the fact that I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since early that morning (the bus made stops for highly variable amounts of time, and the idea of getting off the bus to buy something to eat or drink and having it leave without me was enough to keep me rooted to my seat) and was suffering from a severe lack of sleep. Anyways, I got on the next bus that came barreling down the road, which was luckily headed to a town called Jipijapa -- not where I ultimately needed to go, but at least in the correct province. I got to Jipijapa at around 7:00 pm (I had departed from Quito at 8:00 am), found a bus headed to Puerto Lopez, bought myself a bottle of water, and finally was able to relax a little bit.

When I arrived in Puerto Lopez it was already dark, so I couldn't quite appreciate the ocean vistas that it's famous for, but the town was still bustling with people and noise. After about ten minutes I managed to locate my host mother, Liz, who had slipped into the new supermarket to search for deals while she waited for me, and the two of us took a taxi to her house, which as it turns out isn't actually in the canton of Puerto Lopez, but in a town about ten minutes outside of it called Puerto Rico. Anyways, I got there, ate some food, realized how incredibly rusty my Spanish was as I attempted to exchange pleasantries with Liz, and almost immediately collapsed into bed. And thus ended my saga.

 La Casa Bermeo

 My Room on the Third Floor

The View from my Window

So far, I've really liked living with Liz and her family. She's one of those tiny women with an unbelievably huge personality -- always making jokes (many of which I don't quite understand...), chatting, bustling around. She also seems to know everyone in Puerto Rico, Puerto Lopez, and pretty much everywhere in between. She has two sons who live at home with her (Antonio and Miguel, who are 20 and 24, respectively) and another son, Samuel, who is married and lives just down the road with his wife and daughter. They're all incredibly friendly, and the sons are super fun and jokester-y, but I initially had a lot of trouble keeping up with their high-speed Spanish. Due to my insecurity about my Spanish skills and general inability to understand what was occurring during standard social situations (e.g. breakfast), I spent my first few days in Ecuador being pretty withdrawn and solitary, despite the fact that all I really wanted was to be polite and friendly. It was a little bit like reliving the first few days of college (wondering who your friends will be, wanting people to like you, trying to be charming)...except as a mute. Aka pretty much impossible.

After going through a series of small existential crises (Sin mis palabras, ¿quién soy?), I sucked it up and got over my shyness in about two days.  And despite my intimidation, I took Miguel and Antonio up on their offer when they invited me to go out on a fishing boat with them and their friends to La Isla Salango on Wednesday...and it ended up being one of the most beautiful excursions I've ever been on. We snorkled, swam, fished, and explored the island, while I did my best to be socially functional in a different language...with moderate success. Since then, my Spanish has been coming back to me pretty quickly, so I'm gaining confidence and becoming more and more outgoing each day.

 

Sunset over the Pacific, from Salango

I'm pretty much out of battery power, so I'll have to save my descriptions of my what I've actually been doing this whole time for my next trip to the wifi zone. Contrary to how it may seem (especially according to my angsty description of the bus trip), I´m actually loving Ecuador so far -- the people are all very friendly and the natural scenery is unbelievable. The whole experience will obviously take some getting used to, and is definitely testing my independence and adaptability, but I know it will be worth it in the end. To sum up the highs and lows that I´ve experienced so far, I've compiled two short lists that paint a pretty accurate picture of my living arrangements here in Ecuador...

A few things I love about where I'm living:

1. The beach. It's beautiful beyond belief...and for some reason, everyone is really casual about it. I honestly find it hard to understand why the town's residents don't just hang out there all the time...but I guess they could have other things to do.

 

The Path to the Beach

 

 The Beach at Puerto Rico

 

I can't get over the fact that this is like four minutes away from me...

2. The limones. My host mother puts lime in literally every dish she cooks (there are about fifty lime trees in the orchard in the backyard.) And I LOVE lime. Thus, I generally love the food here.

3. The colors. Everything in Ecuador seems brighter than in the U.S....from the walls inside of the house (various shades of yellow, green, pink, orange and blue) to the cheap plastic bags you get at the grocery store (blue and pink and yellow striped). Why not?

3. The dogs. There are dogs everywhere. There's a perrito named Blanco who permanently resides in the front yard (but technically belongs to a family down the road) who without a doubt likes me more than everyone else I've met in Ecuador combined. He acts like he's going to die of excitement every time I come home (seeing as I'm the only one who ever gives him any attention), and makes for great company. Plus, he doesn't care that my accent is bad.

 

Blanco/Mi Mejor Amigo

A few things that aren't so hot:

1. The showers. LOLZ. No but in all seriousness, the showers are freezing, but I stopped minding after about a day. Also, sometimes the water simply doesn't feel like running and I have to get in the shower with a huge bucket of water from the cistern and a hollowed-out coconut shell...which is surprisingly fun. Classic personal hygiene.

2. The roosters. Now don't get me wrong -- I'm am all for possessing fun farm animals, especially since their presence provides me with eggs in the morning. However, the six roosters who reside just below my window seem to have decided that the prime time for communication with their rooster compañeros is between 4:30 and 7:30 am, which makes for some exceedingly difficult mornings. Furthermore, their calls are a far cry from the quintessential "cockadoodledoo" -- they seriously sound like they're being strangled mid-doodle. I've seriously considered feeding them lozenges.

3. The mosquitoes. But they're pretty annoying wherever you are in the world.

4. The buses. Ecuadorian buses are the worst kind of public transportation I've ever encountered, and I unfortunately must rely on them to get everywhere I want to go. They're hot, cramped, and impossible to understand, seeing as they never follow any sort of defined route or schedule and somehow seem to cost different amounts every time I take them. Also, it's totally in their power to drop you on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Not that I'm bitter or anything.


Until next time, tanto amor de Ecuador...