Fun fact of the day: The favorite Ecuadorian snack at soccer games is peanuts with fresh lime squeezed on top. I am convinced these people just insist on putting some type of fresh fruit on everything (not saying it’s a bad thing)
The futból game adventure was kicked off (punny I know) by a very eventful and stressful car ride to the game. We had a group of around twelve people going to the game. The problem was that only one Ecuadorian had a car… so we had to split up in to one car and a two taxis… The bigger problem was the one Ecuadorian that had a car had no idea where the stadium was… Mix that together and what do you get?
You get one crazy car ride attempting to follow a speeding taxi down roads packed with traffic and screaming soccer fans. Its hard enough to try to follow someone in the US, let alone in a country where they don’t always stop at red lights and blinkers practically don’t exist. I thought I was going to go deaf from all the car horns before we finally made it there. But on the plus side I learned plenty of new colorful Spanish cuss words as the driver got lost at least three times.
When we finally made it to the stadium we were still an hour early for the game but the place was already packed. The stadium has a reputation for being dangerous so the Ecuadorians took it as their personal responsibility to watch us like they were babysitters and proceeded to herd us through the crowd like sheep. We had one in the front leading the way and trying to tell everyone to link arms and another one walking behind keeping an eye and making sure everyone stayed in a group. Which would have all been grand except that they were so excited about the game they would be in the middle of yelling "todos juntos! vamos!" And then get distracted and join in a chorus of a Barcelona chant and forget where we all were again... In retrospect Im sure we looked pretty ridiculous.
I pledged my allegiance to the Barcelona team on the way in by buying a jersey, for no other reason than I liked their colors better because theyre bright yellow. Well that and they are also sponsored by Pilsener, which is the Ecuadorian beer we all drink. When there was about fifteen minutes left before the game started everyone started going nuts and singing lots of songs in Spanish. Finally Emelec erupted out of their side of the stadium and the blue fans started to set off all sorts of fireworks, filling their entire side of the stadium with thick blue smoke.
Everything got even crazier when Barcelona came out since the game was held at their stadium. The fans started pulling streamers out of no where and chucking them on to the field, on top of noise machines, chanting, horns, and lots and lots of fire works, none of which would have been legal in the US.
The game over all was slightly disappointing. It ended in a 0 to 0 tie, so I didn’t even get to see anyone score. I was a little bummed out. I was hoping someone would score and I could see some genuine celebrating or maybe a friendly fight or something, but no such excitement. It was still a lot of fun though and a great chance to people watch. Im hoping well get a chance to go and see another one.
But life is tough here so I have decided that it is time to take a vacation from my vacation since Im I don’t have classes this coming week J
Tomorrow is the big day to start my Carnaval adventure to Baños (which is pictured to the right)! We have bus tickets that are scheduled to leave tomorrow morning at 1145! That should mean we will be in Baños by six, but you never know with the buses here how long they will take, especially when they have to go through the mountains. I cant wait to leave. I already have my suit case packed and bursting to the seams. We have the entire top floor (the terraza) of the hotel reserved for just our group. The trip to Baños is an all included tour for four days. I added on the itinerary to the bottom of the blog. After Baños we are planning to take a two hour bus to a small town in the Amazon called Puyo and then make our way back over to Guayaquil following the “Route of the Sun” which virtually just means we can hit up a bunch of small beaches on the way home. I think we are planning to be back in town sometime next Sunday since we have classes starting again a week from Monday.
I already talked to Leonor and she is making me my favorite breakfast in the morning (bolon con queso and fruit salad) to make sure I get a good start for the day and Im not too hungry on the bus! She also got to meet my real Mom the other day when we were skyping outside. We had a very long conversation the other day about soccer and she told me which team every one of her brothers and sisters likes. I am very glad to have her around since my host Mom has gone MIA for the past few weeks. She disappeared about two weeks ago without warning and so far has not resurfaced, not that I mind. One of the directors sent her an email asking where she was and when she was coming back and the only answer was “soon.” To make a long story short the director and my host mom ended up getting in to quite the argument over email and my host mom is now kicked out of the program, Im the last exchange student she will have. I was given the option to move houses but I would rather stay and hang out with Leonor, even if my host sister drives me crazy.
I just realized that this itinerary is in Spanish and probably doesnt mean a whole lot. We are planning on staying the Achupalla hotel, because its the cheapest. haha. The first day we have a tour of the city of Baños, lunch, a free afternoon, a tour of the views of the city and the volcano. The second day we have a canyoning tour and then another free afternoon. The third day we have a jungle tour, hiking, a visit to an indigeneous village, canoe trip, and lunch in the jungle. The last day we are going on a zip line and then we have lunch and then we head off to Puyo!!
I just finished packing my suit case and I dont think my computer is going to make the cut. As such I will probably be out of communication range for a little more than a week. I will update when I get back. Hopefully with some cool pictures and stories!!
Chao!
No comments:
Post a Comment