In one word, Good Friday in Quito was strange. Thousands of people walk in a procession that starts and ends at Plaza San Francisco; the journey is a huge loop that takes several hours. When we first set up camp on the street to watch, the procession had not yet passed where we were, and there were people selling ice cream, toys, stools to sit on, hats ect. We bought a bit of street food - some fried plantain chips and some delicious little fried dough balls covered in sugar (i think they were called Chilenos). The atmosphere felt like we were getting ready to watch an exciting parade. However, as the procession neared, the street vendors disappeared, and the people slowly walked by, many not wearing shoes and almost all were dressed head to toe in purple gowns that held an unfortunate similarity to the KKK outfits. A very solemn mood settled over all of the observers.
Some folks were quite serious about the self-penitence - one guy had a band of barbed wire wrapped around his bare chest and several men were carrying huge wooden crosses while dressed as Jesus. The procession is pretty much the same thing the whole time, and, after about an hour of extreme melancholy, we had our fill. We decided to go find a few more snacks, which ended up being hand crafted coconut ice cream, and then headed back to the hostel to chill out for a bit while the procession wrapped up...
The next day we went a did a free walking tour of Quito. I don't know if it was typical or if it was because of the holidays, but about 50 people showed up for the tour. The tour took us through the Old Town of Quito, and in addition to visiting the central market, several churches and key plazas, we learned a bit about Ecuadorian history, and some interesting and brutal stories about their political history. While we took pictures of the presidential palace, their statue of independence, and other interesting architecture, our guide filled us in on the variety of ways that presidents of Ecuador have left office. One former President in particular had a particularly gruesome ending. He made a bunch of changes in Ecuador, some of them trying to curtail the power of the Catholic church in government. As the conservative Catholic population is fairly dominant in Ecuador, he was later forced out of office and then the country. When he tried to return and regain control of the country, he was jailed. A mob of Catholic youth stormed the jail and tied him to a horse and dragged him through the streets of Quito, before they burned his body in a park. She spent 15 minutes or so telling us other stories of presidencies that ended poorly.
Later that afternoon, already exhausted from walking around the city for over 4 hours, we had to head to the bus terminal to buy bus tickets for our trip to Manta the Monday after Easter. We took the hour and 15 minute trolley ride to the bus terminal - 25 cents fare each versus a 10 dollar fare if we had taken a taxi. We wanted to make sure that we got off at the right place so we asked a guy standing next to us which stop we needed. This turned into a pleasant 40 minute conversation with him and his family on the trolley - they were going to the terminal as well. In this time, we learned that he had 4 children, had been married for 28 years, that his 9 year old son is studying English, that his sister owns a boat on the coast and much, much more. Our new friend ended up escorting us to the proper booth so we could buy our tickets to Manta, and then he showed us which trolley to take to get back towards our hostel. After a long day seeing some of the most beautiful buildings in Quito and hearing incredible stories told regarding Ecuadorian history, the most memorable event of the day was probably our conversation with the man on the trolley. Random interactions with strangers at home can be pleasant, but somehow the sensation was magnified for me - being in a foreign country and speaking a foreign language.
On Easter morning, we attended a Catholic mass at Basilica del Voto Nacional. The church is beautiful and absolutely massive.
Kim had very high expectations for the mass, especially the music. While the mass was lovely, the music was rather painful. The woman leading the congregation was approximately 120 years old and sang each song in an average of 5 keys; the organ often came in a few measures after she had already started singing, dropping out here and there. After mass, we decided to walk around and see if we could find anything open for lunch. The city was nearly deserted, even on the larger thoroughfares. We walked down to the commercial district and found a little restaurant that was open - gringo customers with gringo food, but pretty good. Afterwards we searched for cards for Kim to send to friends in the States, and we found some that Kim really liked at a booth in a park (same place they burned the liberal president), but as we had one more day before we left Kim wanted to keep looking before she made a decision. Easter was a pretty low key day for us, and as the rain started to fall we decided to head back to the hostel and relax. Some folks in the hostel had put together an asado, so we joined two Uruguayans, an Argentinian, a Peruvian, a Venezuelan, and a German for a nice little community meal and a great way to end our day.
For our final day in Quito we went and finished up all the business we had started. Unfortunately we discovered that the vendors don't set up shop on Monday - not sure if it was only a holiday thing or an every Sunday thing. On the other hand, we found some cards that Kim was very happy with and we found a cafe where we could drink coffee while Kim wrote some messages to her girlfriends. Afterwards, with some trouble, we found the post office and sent off our cards. We stopped at a bar that had craft beer and slowly sipped on a beer that was not a lager. I was even able find a new baseball hat as the one I brought with me was turned into a disgusting mess from my use of it on the farm.
We caught our bus to Manta with no problems, and it was thankfully a peaceful and uneventful ride to Manta. In Manta, we were immediately slammed by the heat and humidity - much the same as when we arrived in Cartagena. Looking to get to San Lorenzo, about 40 minutes south of Manta, we asked the bus driver where we could catch a bus there. He told us that they had one leaving in an hour, and that it was a 6 hour ride. Immediately confused, we thought we would take a taxi, but the taxi we hailed told us it would cost us 25 dollars. We decided to check out the other bus terminal down the street and see if we could figure out the proper bus. I was very thorough in asking for a bus to San Lorenzo near Manta, in the same region (Manabi), and asking how long it would take to get there. We were ushered onto a bus to San Lorenzo for 1 dollar (and it only took about 30 minutes). Apparently there is another San Lorenzo in another region... 6 hours away. Good thing we didn't get on the first bus!
A short, and very hot and sweaty, walk down the main road in San Lorenzo led us to Gringo on the Beach resort, where we made plans to volunteer for most of April. We met the owner, a gringo from Chicago - Dan, and our fellow volunteers - Romy, Vanessa, Lila and Lamia. Vanessa is from England, and she is in Ecuador with her boyfriend Sandro, who is from Cuba. Romy is from France as are the two sisters Lila and Lamia.
The hotel is right on the beach; we walk 3 minutes and we are in the Pacific Ocean.
There is a pool at the hotel, a small soccer field, and a road lined with coconut and palm trees. Our main job is to work in the kitchen and serve any guests. The menu is pretty easy, a lot of it being typical fast food from the US - burgers, fries, hot dogs. Some of it is different as well - empanadas, salchipapas, gato encerado. The times of day vary, but we work between 5 and 6 hours a day for 5 days a week. When not working we have access to wifi, obviously the pool and the beach, and there is even a projector with DirecTV (lots of soccer, movies at night). Dan owns a spare boogie board, so I've gone out a couple times and tried that out. I drank a lot of salt water and got a little sun burned, didn't catch many waves. There is also a steep hike to the top of a rocky hill right on the beach with a lighthouse on top and a spectacular view of the ocean, especially at sunset.
The last 3 weeks here have been tranquil. Lots of time at the pool and the beach or just lounging in hammocks at the restaurant. The two French girls were only here for a few days with us before they left, so we didn't really get to know them well. Vanessa and Sandro are great, and Romy and I get along really well. It's been really fun getting to know everyone and sharing a few drinks in the evenings. There was a surf competition on the beach here this last week, and the judges and some surfers were staying here. Kim was really enjoyed these guests as most of the guys walked around shirtless.
Time feels like it is going slowly here, but in such a good way. The days are relaxing and laid back. Right now the hotel is mostly empty, I think there is one couple here, and Kim, the other volunteers and I have been watching lots movies and relaxing. We plan to stay one more week before traveling to the Galapagos Islands.
Here's to more time lounging in the sun!
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