Ok a bit has happened recently--here's the update.
Montenita ended up great! The beach city was welcoming, laid-back, and SUNNY! I went dancing the last night I was there and was hanging out with some locals there. The only downfall--I dropped my camera in the sand. And I just got this camera three months ago (my first one was stolen on my third day here). Whoops. Down two digital cameras in Ecuador now. So pictures will be very limited from here on out.
After, I came back to Quito before Christmas--I wish I had something to say about the holiday here. It was just like any other day. A lot of places were open and running and it was a nice and sunny day. Christmas here is really just a day to spend with family, point blank. In the United States we value getting that perfect present and having a perfect Christmas--here that does not exist. A day with family and then back to off to regular life. Christmas carols and lights (especially nativity scenes) are very prevalent, but I think only because the copy the United States to some extent.
Then I went to Cuenca, a beautiful world heritage site in the far south of Ecuador. I went with a friends who is here for a year, and we to Ecuador's third biggest city saving us a 10 hours bus ride for a $100 round-trip flight.
We ended up in this sweet little hostal run by a woman and her two sons. The historical part of Cuenca is a city full of narrow streets, red roofs, balconies, and many little cafes and restaurants. And there are about a dozen churches scattered in between. My friend, Becca, and I walked around to all the churches, walked along the rivers, went to the museums displays of indigenous clothing from across the continent and other art, went to an overlook of the city, and went to the thermal springs.
What was a damper on the trip was that I became really sick in Cuenca. It started out with a cold, then that was gone and replaced with a headache that felt like someone was carving a statue out of brain, and a stomachache that wouldn't let me go very far. It hurt to lay down. My body's muscles were so tired of laying down that laying down was just uncomfortable. Eventually, after three days, it got so bad that I was in tears and the lady who owned the hostal took me to the hospital. It was not serious, it was just to get medicine. The ended up taking me to a military hospital and I was examined by doctors in uniform with white lab coats on--I felt like I was in a government experiment. I got some medicine and felt better within hours. And two days later I feel much better--I will never take a healthy day for granted again.
And then was New Year's in Quito! Here they make Nuevo Anos--effigies that represent politicians, deceased family, and other scenes from the old year. Then, they BURN them at midnight. And a lot of these displays are pretty big. You create them and burn them with your family and community. Also, on the streets, all the men dress up as women and stop every car that passes by them as they dance for a few cents and flirt with the drivers. This makes the traffic on new years very slow.
I was still sick, and I did not want to go out and drink, but went with my program director and two others to South Quito to a house that was a friend of my director's. There we hung out till midnight as they burned the effigy, then danced for hours afterwards. It was very calm, but I enjoy the tradition here more. New Year's Eve is a reflective time with your family and community and not all about drinking as it is in the States for people my age.
I'm in Quito for a few more days then off to the Amazon!
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