Peruvian Adventure

we spent our last night in mancora playing cards at a restaurant named iguanas. it was a lively place with a big yellow lab sprawled in the center of the bar and wooden posts for bar stools. i had a delicious sandwhich and a mess of fries, which cass and i shared, later a friend from the beach came and taught us an israeli card game called jonny ?, after we had played several rounds of gin with just the two of us. afterwards, we were looking forward to finally sleeping as the night before had been so rough. instead, there was a party in the patio of our hotel and we were informed that the music would last until three. whereas we had laughed the night before, i felt near tears because it was like some elevated form of torture to have musica electronica shaking your inner membranes. again, earplugs and a face mask. we were very frustrated with the hotel management, and asked for a refund the next day…of course, the “boss” had gone to tumbes, and so on. so we suffered. we ate a breakfast of soda crackers and mandarins in the sun and contemplated our next move. our next move turned out to be waiting on the street for a combi, or vw bus, to take us across the border to ecuador. we settled into our seat, and trundled along as a man with an open button up shirt shouted, tumbes out the window while the driver honked with the strange variety of honks i described earlier somewhere. we were jammed with a variety of people throughout the ride, a teen with her baby, many laborers, heavy set women in tight skirts with gold teeth, etc. one pick up included a stop in front of a crumbling adobe home in the middle of the sandy nowhere to acquire a toothless old woman and her two goats, which had been tied at the legs and were slung on the roof like packages. they cried like tortured old men, and cass even recounted seeing their feeble shadow on the road, legs in the air, head twisting in pain. the driver did not drive like he had two goats on the roof, but instead pulled the turns like he had a race to win. finally we reached the border, and the crossing was smooth, more stamps for the passport and the opportunity to use our new assertiveness. we are very noncommital and strong about saying no until we get the deal we want. we took a moto-taxi to the border and crossed into another world. people filled the streets pushing carts of potatoes and oranges and the colors were so vivid it was almost asiatic. there was a large plastic banner stretched across the street welcoming us to ecuador, and as we searched for a bus station to take us the rest of the way into the interior, we were met by a sandaled old man with deep blue eyes who led us through the cars and people and dogs to a corner station with a bus to cuacas leaving in an hour. we were starving so we went around the corner to a restaurant with plastic tableclothes, a hot pink facade, and dusty faux flowers on every table. we orderd the menu of the day, and supped up a brown soup, rich with lentils, onions, globs of buttery cheese, and cilantro. i then ate a horn shaped piece of chicken with rice, big beans, and cucumbers, red onions, and tomatos; it was delicious and cost a dollar. after reading a bit, and enjoying some chocolate and water, it was onto the bus for a five hour drive. there was lots of space, so cassidy and i spread out and i snuggled up under my newly acquired manta with a book we found in cuzco, tiger in the well, a badly written, but very engaging adventure story. i was able to watch the scenery as it past, taking us through rich and heavy jungles with monstrous green peaks where the bright flowers were scattered like valentine hearts along the road. the people and the homes themselves were also colorful, with mismatched t-shirts, beach pants and laundry on the line. just as quickly, we passed into chalky canyons of cactus and dusty rock faces, and then to alpine planes where coniferous trees gathered like sentinels on the hills overlooking grazing jersey cows and church steeples. ecuador is beautiful. we passed through a few cities of supermarkets and billboards and clipped central gardens housing statues, where still i saw an old woman and a girl walking a cow and a calf down the sidewalk. finally, we arrived in cuacas, and were met by a man halking his hostel. we were appropriately sceptical until he showed us pictures of his family, other visitors, his dog, and was able to charm us with five dollars a night and breakfast included. we jumped in a taxi with him and were brough to a colonial street where the dog, muneca, immediately bounded out to greet us. she´s a medium sized poodled mut with crinkly hair and a human like intelligence. the house is huge and clustered around a central enclosed courtyard that rises for three stories. he immediately served us coffee and we sat down to learn about his family of three daughters and his wife. it was very relaxing and a nice transition that lead us right to dinner. we wandered the street and stumbled upon a mexican food place with a light up corona drawing us to the door. the walls were bright and covered in signatures that peeked out between the wood beams supporting the roof. there were posters of frida kahlo and poncho villa and the bright plastic flags on strings festooned the roof. we had strange frito like chips as an appetizer, and then i enjoyed some enchiladas de mole with a corona and lime. with bunuelos in orange syrup for dessert, we were stuffed and poor. still, it was a great celebratory introduction to ecuador. this morning, luis cooked us scrambled eggs and served us ovaltine, coffee, fresh made juice, wheat buns, marmelade, and butter. during breakfast, he dashed out to pay for milk and let me try the cream skimmed off the top of the bucket he brought up from the milk vendor. we have explored the center today, a beautiful bright place of colonial buildings, towering trees and oxidized statues, and are heading to the hot springs baths and saunas soon. we love ecuador! hope art is doing better soon, much love to each of you. d

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