May 2007

Yesterday, I was sitting at breakfast with Cali, Laila and Pablo. The girls as you may remember, I met in the jungle at Arutam, and Pablo was a Chilean dude Laila first befriended. I idly mentioned that I thought it was neat that so many gringos were working in town, at hostals, restaurants, and surf shops. It must be amazing, I mused, to spend even a few weeks here, just surfing and working. This town is addictive, very tranquillo -relaxed- during the week, and a happening party scene on the weekend. And of course, there´s always the surf. Some days are better than others, but every day there are decently surfable waves, in a warm, embracing ocean.

Laila piped up: "You know, there´s a lot of signs up around town for people looking for waitresses, you should go check it out." I was more than intrigued. Imagine being able to stay here for a few weeks, surfing and chilling out- which I wanted to do anyways- but breaking even financially or even coming out ahead in the end. Besides working in a restaurant again. Fantastic. But without an ample knowledge of spanish, I didn´t know how I could possibly get a job anyways.

Breakfast ended and we walked Pablo and Laila to the bus and said our sad goodbyes. I will really miss Laila- she was the other girl staying in Molita´s house with me in Arutam. She´s English and has this surprising sense of humour that comes out of nowhere. We´ve spent time in the jungle, in Puyo and Baños, and now in Montañita together, and we´ve become quite close. I will definitely miss her!

Back in town, I decided, on a whim, to pop into the Casa Blanca, the bar/restaurant below the hostal of the same name that had several signs advertising hiring. Incidentally, it was the hostal Cali and I first stayed at.

I thought of the absurdity of it all. The last time I applied for a job, at The Grand, I must have spent an hour on my makeup, another on my hair, and wore a fantastic outfit of pressed black slacks with leather stilleto boots and a well-fitted collared shirt. In short, nothing less than perfectly clean, groomed, and professionally outfitted. To complete the picture, I carried a bold red folder containing a perfected resume and cover letter.

I walked into the Casa Blanca wearing my black short "York U" shorts, a Hollister tank, bikini underneath. I had gone for a run that morning, as I have been doing every day now. Pushing myself, I ran the entire way down the beach and the entire way back, broken only by a single stretch before I returned. Covered in sweat and about to relish that cold shower, I discovered we had no water at all. I used the damp terry cloth and some bottled water to give myself a sort of rub-down. Of course, walking back into town for breakfast along the beach, I completed the look by re-splattering mud all the way up my legs. In short, I arrived to apply for a job a bit sweaty, unshowered, in my shorts that half the time I use to sleep in, my bikini, no makeup, flip-flops and mud splatters, without a resume or other documentation. I love what you can get away with in this country!

After some miscommunication and some gesturing coupled with my Spanglish, I was directed to a cute and friendly looking brunette who introduced herself as Melissa. Yay English! This just got a whole lot easier. I waited at the bar as she kept having to leave, scurrying hither and thither, attending to the employees.

Finally we sat down for a proper (improper?) interview. Not many questions, really. I was expecting the usual "Where have you worked before", but no. I answered, "I am from Canada, I have a lot of experience, I plan to say a couple of weeks, and honestly, my Spanish isn´t very good". She seemed wary of my dubious Spanish, and I don´t blame her. All of the kitchen staff and half of the servers were obviously spanish.

She looked at me, hestiantly, as if she were about to ask a favour. "How soon could you start?"

"Well, today, I guess. I´m just hanging out."

"Okay, we´ll we´re going to be really busy tonight. So come back at 4:00, okay? And earlier if you want a staff dinner, we eat around 3:30. We´ll try it out for a night and see how it works."

I walked out of the bar. It was exactly 1:00 pm. I had a job in Ecuador. Oh and did I mention the pay? For a waitress, it´s $140 dollars a month. Break it down, for a typical 10 hour night shift, it´s 4.50 or 45 cents an hour. Ridiculous, right? To put in perspective though, the average school teacher in Ecuador, considered a well-educated person, earns about $200 a month. Also, not terrible considering the cost of living.

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Two and a half hours after I applied for the job, I started my first shift. Things were a bit hectic as it was shift changeover time. Not knowing much spanish made communicating with the kitchen staff especially hard. I was to be helping out behind the bar.

Stepping behind the wood-topped ceramic bar, I met the day bar girl. She is a young middle aged woman, and I would presume also a mother. She has that look. Behind her on the floor slept her oh so cute, very shiny black, baby puppy. He seemed oblivious to the comings and goings, and slept unconcerned. I wondered how she didn´t trip over him all day, and then marveled that here in Ecuador, your dog can hang out behind the bar with you.

A quick scan of the bar, however, revealed it wasn´t entirely backwards. All of the important liquers and liquors were there, including the creme de cacao, johnny walker, absolut vodka, etc.

A guy walked in whom I reconized him from a club I briefly stepped into on Thursday night, because him and his friends seemed to be part of this strange and elite "hot people club". Tall, and very tall considering the height of the locals, he had bleach blond hair that spoke of hours in the sun, and a body that told tales of years on a surfboard. One of the girls with them, a small, very tanned blonde with interesting features and no make-up, was undoubtedly one of the hottest girls I´ve ever seen. She too had the surfer body, not a tiny bit of fat and the leanest midsection you´ve ever seen. I say lean because she was not skinny, per se, but muscular. She was the waitress, and he, the bar manager.

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To be continued: my first night bartending in Ecuador!

To be continued!

The Painful

Saturday in Baños six of us girls from Arutam, the volunteering in the jungle, decided to go horseback riding. It´ll write more about that later. A four hour ride up the volcanic hills surrounding the town, past waterfalls and farms and gorgeous houses, up to the lookout where you can see the entire city. All for $10 each. And my horse was amazing, much more responsive and better than any other trail horse I´ve used at home.

The ride was almost over when I realized my arms were getting sunburnt. I had thought that since I had been in the Amazon for two weeks and my arms had darkened consideraly, that I wouldn´t really need protection on my arms. I used the sunscreen out of my bag, but it was too late. Wearing a t-shirt, by late afternoon I had a glowing red farmers-burn. Ha ha.

There was too much pain to sleep; I felt like someone had seared my flesh with a hot iron. My skin was unbelievably hot and an angry, angry red. I decided to slather my skin with lotion, until it was white. Then I soaked two tank tops, and tied them onto my arms, using dozens of the cheap hair elastics I had bought in Otavalo. From the innumerable sunburns I´ve experienced in my life, I knew that as the water evaporated all night, it would suck the heat from my skin, and perhaps lessen the pain. Arms bundled like a mummy, I took two painkillers and slept.

The Bad

Two days later, arms still glowing but now also peeleing, Cali, my Calgarian friend and I, decided to take an overnight bus from Baños to the coast. It left at 5:30 pm, and was to go to Salinas in approximately 12 hours, and then from there, we would catch a bus up the coast to Montañita.

We settled in for the long haul. About 2 hours in, I decided it was time for some music. But the knapsack, which had been in full sight the entire time, was suddenly lacking my Ipod. I pulled everything out, certain it had to be there. No luck, it was gone. I have no idea how it happened, or why they did not take my camera and/or money as well. It´s still a mystery.

But it has really made me frustrated.... it´s not the loss of the Ipod itself. It can be replaced, in fact, it is insured. But I am in South America for another two and a half months, and my music is my security blanket. Anyone who knows me me, has seen that I turn music on the minute I walk into a room, when I get up in the morning, when I´m in the car. When I am nervous and my stomach is upset, it calms me. When I am tired it soothes me. But most of all, it is a familiar peice of home when everything you see, eat, smell, and do, is completely foreign.

I still have to report it missing and get the vital police report for the insurers. But there are no police in Montañita; it is too small. I will go to Guayaquil next week.

The Good

We arrived, after a detour into Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, near the Southern coast, in the small hamlet of Salinas, pop 1000. It was 5:30 in the morning and we were completely groggy from intermittent sleep and the jostling of the bus. The bus dropped us off somewhere near the coast, in a sort of industrial/commercial area. There was no one around, not even the dogs I´ve come to expect everywhere.

In a stroke of luck, we managed to snag a solo passing taxi, and asked for the bus to Montañita. We wound up and about, away from the coast, past firmly shut stores and dark deserted streets. It was too far and complicated to have walked, and we were indeed grateful for the taxi. We pulled up in a small little parking lot where three or four dark, small, buses sat. I assumed we would end up sitting there until one of them left, likely for a few hours until the sun rose. A few bus drivers, tired, hardworking, older Ecuadorian men, lounged nearby. We once again inquired for the bus to Montañita. To our surprise, it was leaving in 20 minutes. We climbed aboard.

Another two hour nap and we were jolted awake. We´d arrived in Montañita. Dazed from the sleep, we stumbled off the bus, which disappeared down the road in a swirl of ochre dust.

We walked towards the town. It was now 7:30, the sun well up but hidden by a veil of grey clouds. Where other towns would have been bustling, Montañita still slept. Nary a soul stirred, save the two Canadian backbackers just arriving. Every store was shut tight.

It was definitely a surf town, and we knew it before we saw the Pacific. The buildings all had roofs of thached palm, and bamboo seemed to be a major structural element. I could see half a dozen surf shops, boards and clothing visible through the large windows. Suddenly, two surfer boys appeared, walking down the intersecting street. With lean, perfectly muscled bodies typical of the sport, and boards under their arms. they made a pretty picture. I felt a sudden surge of excitement. I´m going to be surfing before I know it!

Tired of walking with our heavy knapsacks, we picked a fairly reasonable, $7 a night hostal on the main street. Our room had a balcony, complete with hammock, that overlooked the main drag. A row of coconut trees completed the view. Tired, we dropped our bags and slept, the single fan, a real luxury, keeping the heat at bay.

Hi all;

I have been writing a ton in my journal and I can´t wait to share it with you all but for the meantime I am just posting a bit of an update here.

Kali and I are leaving Baños today to take an overnight bus, about 8+ hours to the coastal town of Salinas. From there we will head to Montanita, the chilled out surf town with perfect beaches and wicked waves. Not a huge fan of long bus rides, but there are no day buses, and at least we´ll save on a night´s lodging. Buses here in Ecuador are very comfortable and most of them have seriously reclining seats.

Very excited to get back on the road... I am a nomad now and I love it!

Talk to you all soon...

Sarah

Today I leave Quito for what should be months, until I return to fly out. Part two of my journey is now beginning. From here, I am going to meet Cali, a girl from Calgary I volunteered with, in Baños. We found a cheap place to go horseback riding, and Baños is the perfect town to relax and chill. It undeniably the most beautiful town I´ve yet to see in Ecuador.

From Baños, we´re going to Cuenca and Ingapirca, where Ecuador´s largest Incan ruins are. Afterwards, we are going to Montanita on the coast. Surf and sand for us!

Well my laundry is almost done. Gotta go!