Mom and Dad come to Ecuador!! pt 2

Baños

Since we were so flexible in our trip planning, we were able to stay in Baños longer than we had originally planned. I think Baños was definitely one of our favorite stops. It’s a super tranquil little town that’s very popular among tourists. Although it’s touristy, it’s still surrounded by a lot of local flavor. There are a million outdoor activities to partake in. In our days spent in Baños, we hiked to great heights, biked along a popular waterfall route that included biking through pitch black tunnels that are shared among bikers and cars, and went into the jungle. I was also very stoked to find that the people of Baños have some knowledge of Mexican food. In Machala, I get crazy looks when I mention a burrito or guacamole. In Baños, almost every restaurant makes guacamole. Granted, they don’t all serve tortilla chips. More often it’s served with nacho cheese flavored Doritos but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right?

The dreaded tunnel while biking the waterfalls. We opted for a truck-ride on the way back.

Quito
We left Baños and braved yet another crazy Ecuadorian bus ride to Quito. Quito is the capital city where I spent my first month in Ecuador. It has its good moments but it’s really not my favorite place. However, it is home to “Mitad del Mundo,” or Middle of the World. You can stand on the world´s latitude zero degrees, zero minutes, and zero second’s line. Supposedly, it has been proven false and the actual line actually exists some meters away but, for what it’s worth, it’s pretty cool.

Also in Quito, Mom and Dad got a taste of the true Ecuadorian party scene. Dad insisted on staying at his book’s “Editor’s Pick” which was a historical building that had been converted into a hostel. This hostel was located in quite possibly the biggest party spot in all of Quito and we were there on a Friday night. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night. Well, at least Mom didn’t. She can probably recite by heart all the songs that emotional drunk men sing together with arms around each other at three in the morning.

Cuena - Ghost Town
From Quito we flew south to Cuenca, foregoing another lengthy bus ride. Cuenca is a beautiful city which resembles cities in Spain much more than other cities in Ecuador. It is a very cultured and artistic city which many foreigners visit. However, we somehow chose to visit Cuenca on, what I’m sure, is the most dead time of year, Carnaval (our equivalent to Mardi Gras). Had I had known, we probably would have re-arranged our trip, but I didn’t. Those who stay in Cuenca for the holiday hide out inside their houses the whole time preying on poor tourists. While walking seemingly empty streets, we had to constantly dodge water balloons that, literally, appeared out of nowhere. The minute it hit the ground, we would look up and see nothing but the swaying curtain that was surely hiding the culprit. We even had to dodge an egg.

Turns out, everyone in Cuenca who´s not playing hard-to-get with tourists heads to the beaches during Carnaval. Carnaval is a beachy holiday because it’s celebrated by dousing anybody and everybody with water in any way, shape, or form. The most common forms are water balloons, super-soakers, or plain old buckets. Then the real players come along and follow up the water with flour or spray foam. It’s a full week (actually month) when it’s totally acceptable to partake (willingly or not) in water fights with complete strangers. When not in the mood, this holiday can really bring you down. There’s no way to survive but to get on board. While walking down the empty streets of Cuenca one night hungry and looking for an open place to eat, I was pegged with a water balloon on my shoulder by another gringo. I have determined that it’s totally unacceptable for one gringo to peg another gringo in the form of another culture’s festivities.

Let´s get out of this town
After witnessing the desolate streets of Cuenca, we decided to get out of town for the day. After attempting to navigate the crazy bus station filled with Cuencanos trying to escape to the beach, we reluctantly negotiated a ride with a taxi. Our driver took us to Chordaleg, a tiny town known for its silver. Chordaleg did not have much to offer during this season of Carnaval, so we headed back towards Cuenca stopping in Gualaceo. At last, we had found where the people who don’t go to the beach reside during Carnaval. Gualaceo was a pretty normal little town from what I could tell but its streets were filled with the shrieks and screams of those being soaked in water fights. It was instantly apparent that there was no escaping the festivities.

As we navigated through the streets of Gualaceo, Dad was back-stabbed by a shopkeeper who pretended to give him cover but then ended up pouring a bottle of water over his head. Mom innocently strolled by two young guys who were pretending to be looking at some clothes but then suddenly turned and sprayed her down with foam. Then, walking through what seemed to be a fairly harmless produce market, we were attacked from behind with long-range water guns. Luckily on this day, we were in the mood and had a great time navigating the dangerous streets of Gualaceo and running from little children fully loaded with water, foam and flour.

Note the buckets...

Attacked from behind!!

They only look innocent...the foam vendorsWhen you least expect it! Foam in the face!

Is everyone in the U.S. an actor?

Mom and Dad visit Ecuador is still on the way...

Here´s a little story of something classic that happened to me today:

I have started working mornings at an Elementary school. Work at the University is still on hold for the time being. Now that I work in the mornings, my work-out routine is in a rut. I used to get up and go for a run before the sun had come out. Now, I have to go in the afternoons. You can imagine how hard it is to get myself outside for a run at 4 pm in 90 degree heat!

Today I made it! I left my house at 5 pm and was refreshed by the cool breeze that was coming in and by the clouds that were shading the sun. Towards the end of my run I witnessed a car accident. It was pretty bad but no one was injured. I came to an immediate halt and joined in with the crowd of onlookers. It´s even more common to crowd around an accident here than it is at home.

While looking from afar, a woman next to me struck up a conversation. This is yet, another daily occurence in Ecuador. The friendliness of the perfect stranger still amazes me. Ecuadorians think people from the U.S. are cold and unfriendly. I think we´re just not as trusting of strangers. They always tell me I prove their theories wrong, so I must be doing some good down here, right?

Anyways, we got to talking. She wants to meet up with me for a jog sometime because her husband calls her lazy. She asked which part of the States I´m from. I said California and she asked if that was near Hollywood. Hollywood, another intriguing factor of the U.S. for those outside of it. I told her Hollywood was IN California so then she thought I must have met some celebrities in my lifetime. Unfortunately, I have not unless you count Caroline Rhea (Sabrina the Teenage Witch and The Biggest Loser...) or some no-namer from CSI who Dad was convinced was a main character and who now does water shows at theme parks. The woman then asked if nearly everyone in the U.S. is an actor or actress. So, lots of acting talk later, she tells me I remind her of a famous actress. Melissa something...she can´t remember the name. She looked to her daughter for help saying, ¨you know, that girl from that show you watch, Clarissa Explains it All.¨

For those of you who don´t know, Clarissa Explains it all was a popular Nickelodean show from about 14 or so years ago in which Melissa Joan Heart played a teenage girl going through teenage girl stuff. It was an awfully annoying show. It seems to have made a comeback in Ecuador. She informed me that she also plays on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Yes, I know who she is and no, no one has ever told me before that I resemble her.

Having this little, humorous conversation with my new friend on the street really brightened my day and left me running home with a smile on my face. Melissa Joan Heart? Really? You just never know what to expect.