The Bucket List
I’ve made sort of a bucket list.
No…I’m not dying. But my exchange is. Less than three months left in Ecuador! So to make sure that I take advantage of every opportunity here, I wrote down all of the things that I simply had to do before I went back to Oregon. And this past week…I got to cross off a pretty good amount of those things from my list.
Tuesday: I met up with the other exchange girls at the bus terminal (now like our second home) and said goodbye to our host families. Our trip started with a five hour drive in a bus without air conditioning, not too much fun. As soon as we pulled into the city of Guayaquil, however, our moods quickly changed. Guayaquil is the biggest city in Ecuador…and for us that meant seeing civilization for the first time since coming to this country. We would be staying in the house of the host family of a rotary exchange student from California. After a quick stop to drop off our luggage…we set out ready to experience Guayaquil. Wow. I hadn’t realized how much I missed seeing big buildings, highways, and shopping malls! I know it sounds shallow, but you try living in the small city of Riobamba for seven months! After an evening of shopping, sight-seeing, and enjoying the big city lights…we arrived at the house exhausted and thirsty and ready for bed. Good night.
Wednesday: Another item crossed off my list: Paragliding in the town of Crucita. It was amazing! After lots of asking for directions, we finally found the little paragliding comptany and they took us to the top of the only hill in Crucita. After briefing us on safety and what exactly we had to do, we got ready to jump! It was such an increadible feeling to be so high up with just a parachute to keep you from falling. The ride lasted 15 minutes during which we glided up and down the coastline, diving down and then letting the wind bring us back up again. I didn’t want it to end! Once we all had our turn, we got back on the bus and slept the whole way back to Guayaquil. Another great day!
Thursday: Now comes the crazy part. In the coastal province of Manabi lies a tiny hippie surf town called Montanita…and it is increadibly popular with tourists. It is kind of off limits to exchange students, mostly because Ecuadorians seem to think it is increadibly dangerous there. But we braved our chances, called our host parents and asked in our nicest voices if we could travel to Montanita (it was another item on our bucket list). After lots of sucking up, we got permission and excitedly got on a bus and got ready for just about the best weekend of our exchange. Pretty much, Montanita is my absolute favorite town in Ecuador. It is the perfect south american getaway! The ocean is a turquoise color, the streets are full of music and dancing, and the best part…it is very very cheap. We checked into a hostal that cost six dollars…but which also had a shower that electrecuted us and a little bit of an ant invastion. No worries though, it had an amazing view and lots of hammocks. So we were happy. After a quick nap and a swipe of mascara…we were ready to experience the Montanita night life! And let me say, we were not dissapointed. Dancing, bonfires on the beach, watching the sun rise…it was perfect. At 6 in the morning we headed back to our hotel room and collapsed on to our beds. What a night.
Friday: The days in Montanita started pretty late…like around one p.m. We went out for a late breakfast then applied about a bucket of sunscreen as we got ready for a day at the beach. It was a relaxing day of playing in the waves and taking naps under the beach umbrellas. After getting our first sunburns of the trip…we got some hamburgers and went back to the hotel to nap so that we wouldn’t be tired for the night time. Once again, it was another great night of salsa dancing, walking on the beach, and exchange students. How could life be any better?
Saturday: Another item checked off from the list…visiting the city of Salinas. After a pancake breakfast we took a bus 45 minutes to Salinas. Unfortunately, we got lost. We ended up getting off in a town called La Libertad, which was quite pretty as well, but wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. So 15 minutes later we were back on the bus and soon we arrived in Salinas! It was very different from Montanita, a lot more upscale and many big resorts and hotels. But the beach was like a swimming pool and we all quickly jumped in. We also paid two dollars and got to go on a banana boat which was quite fun…until I fell off. But I recovered and hopped back on while the other girls laughed at me. Then, at night we went back to Montanita and enjoyed our last night there. It was so sad to be leaving the next day!
Sunday: We had yet another pancake breakfast and then slowly packed up our stuff and said goodbye to Montanita. In three hours we were back in the bustling city of Guayaquil where we once again ate at McDonalds and then went back to our house to rest up after a long day.
Monday: Our vacation is over! After a five hour bus ride to Riobamba, it was time to go back to our normal routine. But this time…with our Bucket List a little shorter!
Adios,
Alex
