Ecuador 3 – Manta, la bonita
Beach in the evening (we go after 5pm so as to not fry our pasty white American and Northern European skin)
Sorry, sorry…I know I´m already far behind on the blog. As it turns out, blogging from South America is a bit more work than usual for multiple reasons…the key reason being the shockingly slow download/upload speeds. So, it seems that we here at the Extravaganza (and by we I mean my faithful readers and myself since the Civvy is no more) will need to adjust our expectations slightly. Basically, it comes down to the fact that I will likely have to cut down on the number of pictures I post and am going to shoot for a goal of two posts a week. I´ll try hard. I promise.
Ok, so when I last left you I had endured a tortuous but amazingly scenic 10 hour bus ride down the slopes of the Andes from Quito to the coastal city of Manta where I will remain taking Spanish classes for a total of 4 weeks. Manta is a smallish city of about 250,000 people set on the Ecuadorian coast midway between Peru and Colombia. I chose Manta as a good place to learn Spanish as it is decidedly NOT on the gringo trail…most (English-speaking) students of Spanish choose a larger city like Quito or a more scenic small city like Cuenca to do their studies. I was looking for a place with few tourists and other English-speakers so I would be forced to speak in Spanish. And it almost worked. Well, it has worked…though I was unaware of the fact that there is a U.S. military base here in Manta that is mainly involved in issues surrounding the prevention of the drug trade. So, gringos abound…though only on the weekends and there aren´t too many so this plan has gone well so far.
I´m attending a school here in Manta with about 10 other students. Almost all of us are being taught individually which can be extremely exhausting when you´re the only person being focused on for 4-7 hours per day. It´s tough but good for me and hopefully I´m soaking up some sort of knowledge. So…classes are going well. Or as well as possible when one feels like an inarticulate, imbecile pretty much 24 hours a day. I will persevere.
My host family is great and I have my own room with my own bathroom and hot water in the morning (I´m the only one in my school with hot water. Yay me). The house is beautiful though you wouldn´t know if from the street. Ecuador (and I suspect many other 2nd/3rd world countries) is a location of great extremes. On one side of the street you may find a beautiful house with nice things and lots of servants while directly across you´ll find what can only be described as a shack. For example, I live here:
And Nelly, our housekeeper, lives across the street here:
A bit of a difference, no? My Ecuadorian mom Camila is a very nice woman in her mid-fifties who takes in students, I suspect, because she is a bit lonely…her husband was murdered 9 years ago at work by some thieves that were breaking into the business. One of her kids is studying in Spain and the other, Gino, lives with us as he just graduated from the university in Guayaquil and is waiting to hear on a job. Camila (or rather, Nelly) take good care of me though having someone do everything for you takes a bit of getting used to. Seriously.
The weather here in Manta is warm but not excessively so because of breezes that are fairly strong off the ocean. This helps to keep the climate comfortable and also the mosquitoes at bay…though one did sneak into my room this week and chew me to pieces. Don´t worry though…I´ve been taking my malaria meds and though they have caused a bit of insomnia and some crazy dreams, I should manage to remain malaria-free while here in Manta.
One disease I am likely not going to contract while here on the coast is scurvy. That is because we get fresh-squeezed juice for every meal…three times a day. Lemon, lime, pineapple, guava…some others that don´t have English names. The food is yummy if not a bit repetitive with the constant appearance of rice at every meal. Of course, I was overjoyed to discover that one of the specialties here in Manta is ceviche…which is, of course, sea critters marinated in lime juice, onions, and cilantro. Yummy, yummy, yummy…and those of you who were with me way back in Maine know how much I love sea critters!
Ok, that´s it for now. I´m currently lacking in decent pictures so will work on that this week. Also coming later in the week….everyone´s favorite topic…dinero. My next post will be all about financial matters here in Ecuador and hopefully we will finally get to the bottom of how Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar as their official currency. Ciao!
Tags: 8 - Ecuador, ceviche, coast, Ecuador, Manta
Stacey