Bad Weather

So, Atacames...lets just say that every citizen of quito that can afford it goes every weekend. what that meant for me was way to many people that were old and kinda fat and ugly, that didnt speak english. i arrived at 6:30 am at the bus station and somebody ran over to me and from what i was able to understand of his yelling and pointing is that he was going to give me a ride to the strip (picture an ecuadorian version of south beach) where the hotels and hostels and restuarants are. not in a taxi though, in a motorcycle turned into a rickshaw (which, for those who dont know, is like a 3 wheeled motorcycle with places to sit in front of the driver). He wanted $15 but i only had 5, so of course thats what he took. (i found out later that it should have been $3.)

i walked around looking for a hostel cause i was a little tired from the bus ride. oh speaking of which, at 3 am i awoke and a few seconds later the bus driver slammed on the breaks. the response was gasps from those around me, and i immediatly grabbed the armrests, crossed my fingers and told myself i would make it atacames. we got through whatever encouraged such a maneuver and were on the way again, and i did make it. anway, i found a hostel with a private room (shared bath) for 6 bucks, so i got it and hit the hay (almost literally, the mattress wasnt the most supportive). a few hours later i got up and took a cold shower and went to check out the beach, which was the reason i came here. it was cloudy but the sun came through sometimes and it was hot enough. i got lunch and noticed a group of 8 blonde haired people with backpacks walking down the street with volleyball. when i finished my food i headed in the same direction as them and saw that some where swimming and some were sipping fresh smoothies at a bar. i sat in the back and got a beer and watched for a few minutes (i had plenty of time, as this place was obviously their permanant hang out spot for the day. once everybody but 2 blonde girls were on the beach i went up and struck up a conversation. one was american, the other german. the rest of their friends filtered back from the beach, and they were all german but one who was dutch.

we went swimming and played vollyball and drank smoothies until about 6, when i went back to change clothes and shower and they did the same. i didnt know where they were staying but said i would find them around 9 or 10. i went back out then and had dinner (both lunch and dinner were under $5 each, for a good meal, but i cant keep up that spending forever). i then wandered the street for almost an hour until i found them. they bought rum and coke, and we went to the beach and drank (you guessed it) rum and cokes until around 2, when we hit the bars. a few cheap cocktails later, those of us left (half of them went home) were dancing and singing to the bad reggaeton that was blasted from every bar on the beach (about 15 total). then back to the beach, and home when the music shut off at 4. i saw the guys the next morning (during which i was not hungover because i wasnt really drunk, just buzzing, mom and dad) and we went our seperate ways after exchanging email addresses. btw, they were all volunteers in quito, so maybe i have a free place to stay in a reletivly expensive city.

i was off to mompiche next, ecuadors best kept surfing secret, in search of sunshine. all i found was wind, light rain, and clouds, so i left the next morning and i am now in an internet cafe in a bad city waiting 6 hours for my bus to the south coast, where i will hopefully find the sun i am ever-searching for.