Willy Libre

Last week Friday a bunch of us went to the Manta vs. Quito fútbol game.  Although the stands weren’t full, it was pretty much how I envisioned a fútbol game here to be.  There was constant noise, a combination of people yelling various obscenities at the refs, 3 different bands positioned at various points around the stadium all playing different things (and these bands cannot be compared to the Badger marching band…picture 2 trumpets each playing a note that is about a sharp apart, repeatedly, and someone banging on drums), people throwing little bits of paper into the air, etc.  Despite this seemingly chaotic description, it was quite enjoyable.  The first half of the game was fairly uneventful, but the second half was more exciting.  Manta was down 2 goals, but came back and played really hard for the last 15 minutes or so and ended up tying.  That is my one problem with soccer….why is it possible to tie?  It is a game, someone needs to win!

Go Manta!

We got back to the house after the game and my roommate had prepared dinner for all of us!  We had one last big meal together with a few of the interns who left over the weekend.  Within the last few days about 5 interns left.  I can´t believe it is August and that people are leaving already!  For as slow as life is here, time flies!

Saturday morning we went to Puerto Lopez to go whale watching.  The intern here from Greece has a harmonica that she plays a lot and I jokingly told her that she should learn the Free Willy theme song to play to the whales.  She ended up giving the harmonica to me and I taught myself to play the song!  I didn’t know I had any sort of talent on the harmonica, but apparently the couple years of practice I had on the harmonica Grandpa Hanick bought me when I was young paid off.  I think within about 20 minutes everyone was sick of me playing the song because it was so repetitive, but the harmonica definitely made an appearance multiple times throughout the weekend.  The boat ride out to see the whales was really bumpy since we were going against the waves, but it was really fun!  We saw quite a few whales, but unfortunately none of them jumped.  By the time we were ready to head back to shore, about half of the people on the boat were sea sick.  I luckily have a pretty strong stomach and didn’t feel sick until I heard people throwing up, but we were heading back to shore and the sound of the motor covered most of it up.  On our way back we stopped by Isla de Plata, where we could see Blue Footed Boobies from the boat!

Iwona, me and Artemis on the boat

Coast of Puerto Lopez

Free Willy!

Blue footed boobies!

After lunch and a small jam session, we took another bus to Montañita.  We walked around and looked at all the artesania stands for most of the day and then got ready to go out.  Montañita basically turns into one big party by night.  The streets are lined with cocktail stands selling drinks made with fresh fruit for $2!  We went to the same disco as last time, with live music and a dance floor made of sand!  It was a really fun night!

Post-lunch sing-a-long

We woke up in the morning to discover we had been robbed.  When we went back the night before, we didn’t lock the door because we were waiting for the rest of the people to come back.  Somewhere in the course of the night someone came in and stole 3 backpacks and a purse.  Luckily it was only money and clothes that people lost, no ipods, cameras, etc.  My stuff was all in the other room, so nothing of mine was stolen.  Although it sucked, we were lucky because it could have been a lot worse.  In the future we will be locking the door, whether they are there or not!  We spent most of the day lounging on the beach (although there was still no sun) and got back to Manta around 7 PM.

Nothing like a little Free Willy to wake you up in the morning

Montañita

Another exciting thing — I had my first dream in Spanish last night!  I always told Danica that I couldn’t wait until I started dreaming in Spanish.  Although I think there may have been some English involved too, I woke up thinking in Spanish!  It was quite exciting.  I rarely remember my dreams when I’m back home….it’s only about once a month that I will remember just a small part of my dream, and it’s usually really bizarre.  Since I have been in Ecuador, I almost always remember my dreams, and it is usually really vividly that I remember them.  It’s weird, but I love it!

Mi vida en Manta, Puerto Lopez y Los Frailes

Molly asked for more details, so I will try to make this as detailed as possible!

I am currently sitting in a hammock in my kitchen in some surprisingly cold weather (I’m actually wearing a sweatshirt!) I’m worn out from this weekend, I can’t wait to climb into my bed and watch some TV on DVD.

Recap of last week….I worked every day 9-5. My job was very up and down; a couple days were really good and a couple not so good. Primarily not good because I don’t always know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing and I can’t completely communicate my thoughts all the time. However one day we went to Montichristi (a city about 20 minutes away) to speak with artisans about their interest in and possible need for microfinance, which was really interesting. It was nice to not sit in an office all day too! I usually just hang out at my house with my roommates at night. I stopped eating dinner at my foundation because I have to wait there and extra 2 or 3 hours until it’s dinner time, so I either cook dinner or go out to eat. I eat out quite a bit with my roommates because it’s so cheap! You can get a huge plate of rice, beans, meat and salad or plantains for about $2.

I am starting to get more settled in here in Manta. I still haven’t seen the entire city, but I know the blocks near my house, the market and the beach! I am getting to know my roommates and they are all really fun. My Spanish is slowly improving and I am able to follow conversations in large groups more and more. Everyone’s favorite game currently is trying to pronounce my name…”Carbet” and “Caribel” are some common ones. I now introduce myself as Carolina.

Now for more exciting weekend updates! Friday I went to the beach after work with 3 other interns and one of the AIESECers from Manta to play volleyball. Then a big group of us went out for pizza. We just hung out at the house and sang some karaoke Friday night because we had to get up early Saturday morning to go to Puerto Lopez!

We left Manta at about 7:30 Saturday morning and had a 2 and a half hour bus ride to Puerto Lopez. I went with about 10 other interns and an AIESECer from Manta and we met some friends of AIESECers there as well. It was the festival of the whales in Puerto Lopez for the beginning of whale watching season so there was a parade during the day. We hung out at the beach most of the day, but unfortunately it was raining most of the time. The beach was lined with little huts and bars so we were able to stay dry. Everyone from the town gathered on the beach for fireworks at night and then there was live music and everyone danced in the street for hours! During one of the breaks they played both of the World Cup songs, including the Shakira “Waka Waka” song that everyone here loves. We didn’t go whale watching this weekend, but we are going in a month or so to Isla de la Plata, also known as the Poor Man’s Galapagos.

This morning we left Puerto Lopez for the national park Los Frailes. It is $12 for extranjeros to enter; however with my new Censo card (an Ecuadorian residence card I had to get) I got in for $2! The weather was still not very good, so unfortunately we had no sun, but it was a really beautiful beach. We climbed across a bunch of rocks to a cave at the far end of the beach and there were crabs EVERYWHERE. They were running all over the place and I thought they were going to bite (pinch?) me, but I made it out without any wounds! Then we climbed up to the lookout point for a view of two beaches, so pretty! We rode in the back of a truck back to Puerto Lopez (and got soaked from the rain) to catch our bus back to Manta. It was a really fun weekend!

Those are all my updates for now. I tried to put some photos here, but the internet is really slow right now, so I will upload an album of photos soon! Happy Father’s Day to all the dads reading this!