Quick note: The internet was not strong enough at my house last night to upload the blog, so I am posting it now, Monday. But read this as if it were yesterday, Sunday, the 3rd of February, Laura´s birthday, Superbowl Sunday…
Week 28! What a great week!
I worked from Monday-Thursday at the Academia on finishing up the promotional materials for the tourism office. Very consistent work, and very creative... so I like it! However, Thursday had itself a lil' twist. My task: to give a presentation (en Español) to the directors of the school about the importance of social media and how it could benefit the Academia. I was quite nervous, but after going over it a few times, I felt confident in my message and ideas. The directors ended up loving the ideas (insert sigh of relief), so my last week will be full of helping them get started on Twitter, improving their presence on Facebook, and re-creating their blog. A lot for one week, but I am really excited. Also... did you catch that it's my LAST WEEK HERE?! Seriously, I don't know where the time goes.
On Thursday night, my three friends and I boarded a bus to go to the beach in Tonsupa. Our plan was to sleep through the night on the bus, get to the beach in the morning, spend Friday and Saturday tanning our faces off, and then returning to Quito Saturday night to be home Sunday morning. The lady at the ticket counter said that we should be getting into Tansupa around 6 a.m. on Friday, and that there would be movement around the town at that time. We like movement. Movement is good. Movement = safety. Usually in Ecuador, as I have mentioned before, people are running behind. This bus, however, arrived two hours EARLY. So, at 4 a.m., my friends and I were dropped off in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, with all of our bags, and with sleep still in our eyes. Luckily a nice, old man told us he would wait at the “taxi” stop with us until we were picked up. “Taxi” is in quotes because the taxis in this town are more like little motorcycles with a trunk on the back for people to sit in. We ended up making it to the hostel safe n’ sound and crawled into our mosquito-net-covered beds to get some sleep. Within maybe 2 minutes this is what we heard: CA-CA-DOOODLE-DOOOOOOO. Yup, a rooster had made its home directly outside our window. I could not stop laughing. I think I was delirious at this point.
The next day was a little rainy, but we made our way down to the beach nonetheless. I don’t think I can ever get sick of the sound of the ocean. It makes me feel so at peace. In fact, I listen to it every night on my “sound machine” app! Anyways, after a nice (although a little chilly) day on the beach, we made our to the hostel to get ready for dinner. Before and after dinner, we played the card game KEMP—in which we got really competitive and really silly. My team lost… still bitter.
Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Friday except with more sun (!), more time playing in the ocean, and the card game GOLF in place of KEMP. I won once… redemption.
Mosquito net beds.
La playa en Tonsupa.
We got in around 6:45 a.m. this morning. I took a nice lil’ cat-nap until 9, ate breakfast, and then made my way to my friends’ house to get ready to return to the teleférico. We had been during my first week, but I had not had my camera with me (nor warm clothes), so returning was on my list of “things to do before leaving Quito.” When we reached the top of the mountain, it was very, very cloudy, giving the city the appearance of a white sheet. Originally I thought, “Weeelp, this is unfortunate,” but that didn’t last long because being up in the clouds was equally as delightful. We ended up coming across the nicest groups of people. I offered to take a picture of one of these groups, a big family reunion, and they ended up taking pictures with us and chatting with us about our travels.
It started to drizzle towards the end, but my friend Mercy and I said, “It’ll rain probably for like 5 minutes…” After all, it is Quito, and the weather like every 2 minutes. Furthermore, we wanted to ride horses, and we wouldn’t let the rain stop us. I almost wish we had let it. As we began the trail, the rain started to pick up a bit. We stopped half way through, and the guide asked if we wanted to turn around or keep going. With an optimistic (and slightly stupid) spirit I replied, “Ya estamos mojadas… ¡podemos continuar!” “We are already damp… we can continue!” The rain continued to pick up—with thicker, heavier raindrops falling as the moments passed. We finally reached the top, turned around, and headed back. Then. It. Started. To. Hail. Yes, we were on a horse, in the middle of the mountains, and it was hailing. We were so soaked, and so, so cold. When we arrived back to “camp,” we caught a view of the city below us, the same city that had previously looked like the sheet. But now, as we were being pummeled by hail, the city and its inhabitants were being graced with beautiful sunshine. What in the world! I just kept laughing and saying, “It is HAILING.” Probably, once again, a little too soon to be laughing… but what can ya do?
En conclusión, I am really enjoying my time at work and with my friends here—rain, shine, or hail. Can’t I just stay a liiiiiitle longer?
Would you look at that smirk!
Saltando como siempre.
The 1st of 3 groups of wonderfully kind people we met this day. Those are real laughs.
The most spectacular view.
Ride em´cowgirl!
Soaking. Wet.
Todavía con frío por el granizo--
Courtney
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