A day in the life...

I know I haven't updated this fora while but life has been ticking over nicely here in Montanita. Have been going to classes as usual, studying a bit, partying a bit and went horse riding at the weekend to a nearby waterfall that will apparently grant you wishes if you wash in it (I'll let you know on that one!). Realise however that I haven't really elaborated much on the general goings on so thought I'd give you a typical day in my life, ecuadorian style!

This week I have lessons at 8am so I start the day with a swim... That's a complete lie, I would love to say that I do that but it's too frickin' cold and I'm far too lazy let's be honest. What actually happens is that I get up about 15 mins before class and stumble around a dark dorm trying not to wake my roommates up who are lucky enough to have 10am classes! The dorm is fairly basic with four beds, some drawers and shelves for belongings and a table and chair, plus a bathroom with shower. But it's clean and comfortable and has a beachy feel to it with lots of bamboo and thatched roofing etc.

I head off to school which is literally 5 mins away from the cabanas but up a ridiculous amount of steps on the side of a hill (still not used to these after 5 weeks!). This week I am having private lessons rather than group in the hope it will actually get me to speak more. In the morning classes we learn grammar and in the afternoon it's more application and practical. The teachers are all really nice but you are not supposed to speak any English so there can be very long silences where I'm trying to find the right words! But hopefully I'm getting there, certainly know more than I did before I came. In the break between morning and afternoon class I'll come back to the cabanas and do some homework, play on the Internet, make some lunch, that kind of thing. 

I would like to say that of an evening I study tremendously hard but inevitably I get distracted by one of the cabana crew and it never quite happens! For example yesterday I was on my way back from class when I ran into Jess and Zandra having a manicure and so ended up sitting with them for a good couple of hours, before heading for a glass of wine and then, wait for it, went and got my nose pierced! We had all been talking about getting different things done for a while so why not?! Anyways then we went back to the cabanas and made some dinner (this is usually a one pot job of whatever vegetables and random sauces we can get hold of) and then poor Jess couldn't eat it because she had had her tongue pierced so we had to go and find some ice-cream for her. On our way through town we came across a game of beer pong being played in the street (a drinking game where two teams essentially have to throw a ping pong ball into each others cups of beer) and so of course we stopped to play. I was surprisingly good at this game considering my usual skill with balls but it was slightly hazardous as the ping pong balls kept rolling down the street which is not the cleanest of places (this particular street is known as 'shit alley' due to it often overflowing with sewage) so we had to abandon drinking the beer for fear of contamination! 

But anything goes here. In the streets there are fire throwers, jugglers, people selling everything from maracas to masks made from turtle shells (not impressed by this!) but there is generally a relaxed vibe about the place and it's great to just to mooch round of an evening. You do see some sights though; on an average day you will have been shouted at by the "pollo pollo" man on his bicycle from where he sells chickens, followed home by at least one stray dog, been harassed by the same sunglasses seller even though there is no sun and you say no every time he asks, and on a good day you might even see the midget on his skateboard and a dog in a tshirt! Only in Montanita...