Coasting on the Coast (Vacacion Parte Uno)

Vacations are bittersweet. They have a funny way of twisting the vacater into believing that sleeping in everyday is normal, that reading a good book is the most strenuous activity one should partake in. Ever. The longer you have to settle into this mindset, the more difficult it is to rouse yourself out of this luxurious sedation when it comes time.

My vacation was five weeks. I will spare you the details of the depth and breadth of my resentment towards going back to work.

Last day of classes were on November 30th. My first semester of teaching went extremely well, and although the term was sprinkled with a few challenging students, a handful of boring lessons, and a couple of jokes that flopped in class (bruising my teacher-come-comedian ego), in general the kids were bright, the class discussions were candid, and I did manage to get a couple of laughs from my students, believe it or not.

I spent the first few days of my break just hanging out with my apartment mates, occasionally breaking to read by the river in front of our complex. On December 4th, my friend Samir arrived from Toronto, who came to visit for just over two weeks. Having been to Ecuador before, Samir was able to create a wonderful little itinerary for us as we pueblo-hopped from town to town along the "Ruta del Sol". The Route of the Sun is basically just a line-up of coastal cities that tourists can go to to get some sun on their skin, some sand in their swim trunks, and some excellent surfing conditions.

Guayaquil was our first destination after leaving Cuenca. We only stayed there one night because neither of us particularly like the city, so it was really more of a stopping point . Guayaquil is the biggest city in Ecuador, hosting about 6 million citizens, mostly in sprawling slums. It is a port city, and rather lives up to its reputation by being fairly rough and hostile. I have a fairly negative view of the place, but take it with a grain of salt as I haven't spent a lot of time there to really educate my opinion. To its justice, some parts of the city are pretty nice and there are tons of things to do. Samir and I went to the Museo Antropologico y de Arte Contemporaneo and saw one of the best modern art exhibits I've seen in my life. Guayaquil is known as being "the bad seed of Ecuador", but it adds some spice.

The next stop was a tiny pueblito named "Ballenita", which actually means "little whale"...But then again, "burrito" means "little donkey" so direct translations don't always make the most sense. To my knowledge, there are no miniature whales in Ballenita. Samir and I stayed at a beautiful hotel called Farallon Dillon, which is really more of a nautical museum than a hotel. Every corner is filled with some kind of marine treasure, and the place is run by a retired sea captain (who looks suspiciously like Captain Highliner, Mascot of the Frozen Fish Sticks). It was in Ballenita that I learned to embrace the white noise lulling of waves crashing on the surf as I fell asleep every night. Oh, and did I mention our room was located at the top of a refurbished lighthouse???

After little whale came little mountain, or Montañita. Being a town of barely a few square kilometres big, it boasts more action than a lot of Ecuador put together. Well, tourist action anyway. I would say about 80% of the centre's population is made up of turistas, who come from all over the globe for surfing and partying. The tides in Montañita are crazy and the surfing is supposed to be amazing. Being more of a blue corn 'n crunchy granola than Blue Crush, I spent my time absorbing the hippy-in-a-hammock culture rather than balancing on a board. I did my mother proud and went for long walks on the beach, filling my pockets with smooth rocks and seashells, just as my mum does everytime we go on vacation to the maritime beaches. I found some good ones, Mum!

Ayampe was next and, had it not been for a few remarkable exceptions, this stop would've been a bit of a bust. Firstly, the beach was awesome. Montañita's currents were insane and swimming there was more like wrestling for your life against Mr.T, in water form. I pity the fool who gets pulled under. In Ayampe, the waves were still a force to be reckoned with, but in a manageable, fun way. Kind of like the difference between being involved in an all-out fight-till-death ultimate battle of brawn versus playing fisticuffs with a younger sibling.
The other exception was that a neighbouring hostal (Cabañas de La Tortuga) had a fantastic vegetarian restaurant run by an even more fantastic man named Galban. Now, if Samir is reading this, his heart with have probably started fluttering furiously because he loved Galban even more than I love, I don't know, tofu. To say Galban's cooking was good would be like saying Mr. Clean has a receding hairline. Large understatement. Perfectly seasoned and beautifully presented, humble Galban fed us four meals that I will literally remember for the rest of my life. One of my favourite parts was seeing him dash around his back garden gathering fresh herbs and produce after taking our order, then seeing them on our plates half an hour later. Fresh fish, flavourful little domes of garlic rice, lemoney-herby salads, and crunchy patacones (plantain fritters). Not only was he a spatula-weilding God, but he was also ridiculously friendly and fun to talk to. Before I start drooling on the keyboard, let's move on...

...To a wonderful ecological resort named Alandaluz in Puerto Rico. Alandaluz was built and is run on self-sustaining, evoronmentally friendly principles which makes my green green heart happy, but it was also just a really beautiful place to stay, too. Our room was amazing and had a beach-front, be-hammocked balcony and a fireplace. That's like telling a little kid in an ice cream shop that he can pick two flavours. The beach there was also great, so Samir and I got in some last days of wave wrestling before we left the coast.

Back in Cuenca, I missed the sound of waves. Samir left a few days later and Christmas planning, reunited with my teacher amigos, began with festive fervour...

Dear Santa, Please send me an ebb-and-flowing tide to roar outside my window, and one Galban, spatula at the ready...