Last weekend, myself and 15 girls from my program left at 9pm on Thursday night for a 12 hour bus ride to the coast. Canoa is a tiny little surf town that's hugely popular with gringos like us. We stayed in a hostel with handmade steps that were cross sections of a tree trunk and the walls were all green bamboo. The beach itself was excellent. Big waves, sandy sand, cheap piña coladas (with fresh piña!) and lots of sun. Every morning a truck would drive up and down the beach-road with a loudspeaker announcing fresh shrimp, which excited other people more than me, but was still cool. 
At night, we made friends with Margo, one of the cabaña owners, due the 16 of us buying a ridiculous amount of piña coladas and batidos, and spending several hours dancing to the same 6 songs on the beach with his 3 nieces (ages 3, 6, and 12). On the second night, we convinced him to leave the bar for a bit and dance with us, which I think he enjoyed. 
At night, we made friends with Margo, one of the cabaña owners, due the 16 of us buying a ridiculous amount of piña coladas and batidos, and spending several hours dancing to the same 6 songs on the beach with his 3 nieces (ages 3, 6, and 12). On the second night, we convinced him to leave the bar for a bit and dance with us, which I think he enjoyed. 
On the second day in Canoa, I got a little tired of speaking English and laying on the beach, so decided to wander down the highway for a while and ended up following a dirt road up a cliff. 
When I got to the top, there was a half built hotel with a balcony for every room and old guy on the top floor who invited me up. This is one of those times where prudence might have kept me from, say, accepting the coke bottle he gave me, but I decided to trust the world and just go with it. I ended up sitting there, enjoying a fantastic view of the beach, and chatting with Ramiro for over two hours about traveling (he biked the Pan American highway when he was 55), Canoa (he started the first hotel there 20 years ago), and getting lost (the motor on his boat died 20 miles out at sea). It was one of the coolest conversations I've had here yet.
When I got to the top, there was a half built hotel with a balcony for every room and old guy on the top floor who invited me up. This is one of those times where prudence might have kept me from, say, accepting the coke bottle he gave me, but I decided to trust the world and just go with it. I ended up sitting there, enjoying a fantastic view of the beach, and chatting with Ramiro for over two hours about traveling (he biked the Pan American highway when he was 55), Canoa (he started the first hotel there 20 years ago), and getting lost (the motor on his boat died 20 miles out at sea). It was one of the coolest conversations I've had here yet.Partially based on hanging out with Ramiro, I recently realized that I'm not spending enough time with Ecuadorians. Luckily, about 12 hours after I had this realization, that started to change. On Thursday, 4 kids in my linguistics class invite me and the other American, Emily, out to dinner that evening. 
It turned out that "dinner' meant a bar, but it was fun all the same. On Friday, I went out to lunch with everyone from my internship organization, Ciclopolis. All fifteen of them are under 30, and I was the only non-ecuadorian. Also, we basically went to "the Meat House", which was kind of scary for me, but they had thin chicken, so I survived. Finally, on Friday night, I went to Synagogue for services. It was definitely a little strange, not knowing anyone, but they sang some tunes I knew from Hillel (ej. Mizmor Shir), and others I knew from TBE, as well as a few new ones, so I felt pretty comfortable during services. Afterward, a bunch of people introduced themselves and told me to come back whenever I wanted, and one family offered to drive me home, helping me to avoid a 45 minute taxi ride. All in all, a successful adventure which left me feeling very good about my immersion rate the past few days. Although I've definitely missed family and friends some, it's been a good week.
It turned out that "dinner' meant a bar, but it was fun all the same. On Friday, I went out to lunch with everyone from my internship organization, Ciclopolis. All fifteen of them are under 30, and I was the only non-ecuadorian. Also, we basically went to "the Meat House", which was kind of scary for me, but they had thin chicken, so I survived. Finally, on Friday night, I went to Synagogue for services. It was definitely a little strange, not knowing anyone, but they sang some tunes I knew from Hillel (ej. Mizmor Shir), and others I knew from TBE, as well as a few new ones, so I felt pretty comfortable during services. Afterward, a bunch of people introduced themselves and told me to come back whenever I wanted, and one family offered to drive me home, helping me to avoid a 45 minute taxi ride. All in all, a successful adventure which left me feeling very good about my immersion rate the past few days. Although I've definitely missed family and friends some, it's been a good week. 
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