Well, we´re just past the halfway point in the trip, and it´s been nothing short of interesting thus far. We just returned from a weekend trip to Puerto Lopez which proved both educational and entertaining.
The first bus from Canoa to San Vicente was crowded, a common occurence here. As usual this did not prevent the ayudante from hailing down more passengers, creating a wonderful mass of sweaty bodies scrunched together in a sardine esque manner in every bit of space avaialable, occasionally venturing onto the top of the bus. Somewhere in this mass of people a very old, very small woman pulled me onto her lap. I tried to protest, assuring her that I was just fine standing in the aisle (just like the other 20 people, a fact that seemed to escape her attention, or else just didn´t bother her), but she was very insistent and continued to pull me onto her lap. Evaluating the situation, I determined that it was better to consent and not offend the woman, even if it was at the risk of breaking her 80 year old, frail looking legs. The woman was very sweet, calling me a doll, and proceeded to wrap her arms around my waist, pat my thigh, etc. Since she was old and female I decided that this was probably ok and hoped it was customary or something. I soon surmised that this was not in fact an every day occurence as I took in the stares from everyone else on the bus. I was sure they were all gawking at this obnoxious American tourist who was crushing a poor old woman´s legs because she couldn't handle standing in the aisle like everyone else. Needless to say it was a mildly uncomfortable situation.
After several more uncomfortable, though comparatively less eventful bus rides we arrived in Puerto Lopez to a very cool little eco lodge called Mandala. Our room was a little private cabaña with two beds complete with mosquito nets and a bathroom boasting some very attractive woodwork. All in all a great place with pretty good food and phenomenal tropical gardens. The owners were on vacation at the time, they had left their friend Walter to run the place. Walter was an older German man with wire rimmed spectacles on the end of his nose and white, somewhat unkempt hair on the sides of his head. Walter became frustrated rather easily and became visibly stressed when Lucy tried to order a drink while he was still checking us in. We soon learned not to burden Walter with more than one simple task at risk of making his head explode. One morning we wanted a taxi but none were available, so a worker at the hotel called one that would be there in ten minutes. A couple of minutes later four taxis arrived and Albert became so flustered that he could hardly get his words out, which quickly became very amusing as he was sputtering in his less than perfect Spanish to the taxi drivers. A very nice man, but not cut out for air traffic control.
On our second night in Puerto Lopez we heard that there was a traveling circus in town, so me, mom, and our friend Gerard from the school in Canoa decided to go. I for one just wanted to see how on earth they got a lion (their biggest draw on the advertisement) to this little town in Ecuador and what state the animal was in. This proved to be one of the more bizarre spectacles I have ever had the privilege of witnessing. The circus was supposed to start at nine, so, obviously, when we got there at five to, the place was deserted. After finally getting in, at the steep price of a buck a pop, we paid fifty cents more to sit in the plastic lawn chairs set up in front of the bleachers and then proceeded to sit around for forty minutes waiting. At one point a dog ran in and peed on a pole in the center, which I mistakenly took for the first act. The show started promptly at ten thirty. I immediately realized that this was not going to be like any circus I had ever seen.
It opened with four women, scantily clad in thong bikinis with beads hanging down (probably for modesty´s sake) and high heels dancing. Now, I use the term dancing lightly, it mostly consisted of some impressive booty shaking and the occasional turn (so as to see this from all angles of course). They did at one point attempt a sort of can can type move which didn't work out very well due to an apparent lack of coordination. Jim (a man we met on our tour of Isla de la Plata that day) who I was sitting next to suggested that perhaps if this whole college thing didn't work out I could have a career in the circus. We´ll see how this semester pans out. After that spectacle, there were a couple of acrobat type performers (with three guys in the background controlling the pulley system with their body weight and a disturbing lack of a safety net), and a contortionist the likes of which I have never before seen. Next came a five minute intermission that only lasted for twenty minutes and more dancers. There were some clowns thrown in the mix at certain points, I don´t pretend to have understood all of their jokes but their actions made it clear that there was some PG 13 humor being tossed around. There were also some mechanical dolls doing dirty dance moves, which turned out to be a guy squatting underneath some mannequins and moving their legs. And finally, as a finale, some little monkeys dressed as Rambo complete with mini machine guns came out. There never was a lion, but as this didn't seem to bother anyone else I assume this was expected.
A very interesting trip. We head to the jungle on Friday so no Internet for ten days or so, so I guess this is Ciao!
The first bus from Canoa to San Vicente was crowded, a common occurence here. As usual this did not prevent the ayudante from hailing down more passengers, creating a wonderful mass of sweaty bodies scrunched together in a sardine esque manner in every bit of space avaialable, occasionally venturing onto the top of the bus. Somewhere in this mass of people a very old, very small woman pulled me onto her lap. I tried to protest, assuring her that I was just fine standing in the aisle (just like the other 20 people, a fact that seemed to escape her attention, or else just didn´t bother her), but she was very insistent and continued to pull me onto her lap. Evaluating the situation, I determined that it was better to consent and not offend the woman, even if it was at the risk of breaking her 80 year old, frail looking legs. The woman was very sweet, calling me a doll, and proceeded to wrap her arms around my waist, pat my thigh, etc. Since she was old and female I decided that this was probably ok and hoped it was customary or something. I soon surmised that this was not in fact an every day occurence as I took in the stares from everyone else on the bus. I was sure they were all gawking at this obnoxious American tourist who was crushing a poor old woman´s legs because she couldn't handle standing in the aisle like everyone else. Needless to say it was a mildly uncomfortable situation.
After several more uncomfortable, though comparatively less eventful bus rides we arrived in Puerto Lopez to a very cool little eco lodge called Mandala. Our room was a little private cabaña with two beds complete with mosquito nets and a bathroom boasting some very attractive woodwork. All in all a great place with pretty good food and phenomenal tropical gardens. The owners were on vacation at the time, they had left their friend Walter to run the place. Walter was an older German man with wire rimmed spectacles on the end of his nose and white, somewhat unkempt hair on the sides of his head. Walter became frustrated rather easily and became visibly stressed when Lucy tried to order a drink while he was still checking us in. We soon learned not to burden Walter with more than one simple task at risk of making his head explode. One morning we wanted a taxi but none were available, so a worker at the hotel called one that would be there in ten minutes. A couple of minutes later four taxis arrived and Albert became so flustered that he could hardly get his words out, which quickly became very amusing as he was sputtering in his less than perfect Spanish to the taxi drivers. A very nice man, but not cut out for air traffic control.
On our second night in Puerto Lopez we heard that there was a traveling circus in town, so me, mom, and our friend Gerard from the school in Canoa decided to go. I for one just wanted to see how on earth they got a lion (their biggest draw on the advertisement) to this little town in Ecuador and what state the animal was in. This proved to be one of the more bizarre spectacles I have ever had the privilege of witnessing. The circus was supposed to start at nine, so, obviously, when we got there at five to, the place was deserted. After finally getting in, at the steep price of a buck a pop, we paid fifty cents more to sit in the plastic lawn chairs set up in front of the bleachers and then proceeded to sit around for forty minutes waiting. At one point a dog ran in and peed on a pole in the center, which I mistakenly took for the first act. The show started promptly at ten thirty. I immediately realized that this was not going to be like any circus I had ever seen.
It opened with four women, scantily clad in thong bikinis with beads hanging down (probably for modesty´s sake) and high heels dancing. Now, I use the term dancing lightly, it mostly consisted of some impressive booty shaking and the occasional turn (so as to see this from all angles of course). They did at one point attempt a sort of can can type move which didn't work out very well due to an apparent lack of coordination. Jim (a man we met on our tour of Isla de la Plata that day) who I was sitting next to suggested that perhaps if this whole college thing didn't work out I could have a career in the circus. We´ll see how this semester pans out. After that spectacle, there were a couple of acrobat type performers (with three guys in the background controlling the pulley system with their body weight and a disturbing lack of a safety net), and a contortionist the likes of which I have never before seen. Next came a five minute intermission that only lasted for twenty minutes and more dancers. There were some clowns thrown in the mix at certain points, I don´t pretend to have understood all of their jokes but their actions made it clear that there was some PG 13 humor being tossed around. There were also some mechanical dolls doing dirty dance moves, which turned out to be a guy squatting underneath some mannequins and moving their legs. And finally, as a finale, some little monkeys dressed as Rambo complete with mini machine guns came out. There never was a lion, but as this didn't seem to bother anyone else I assume this was expected.
A very interesting trip. We head to the jungle on Friday so no Internet for ten days or so, so I guess this is Ciao!
