The dearth of recent essential mass messages can be explained in on word: Surfing. The last couple weeks have brought consistent waves and one epic swell (more on that later), and we have pared our lives down to the bare essentials: eat, sleep, surf. No time for superfluous activities like blogging, reading, conversation, laundry... Actually it hasn´t been quite that bad, and we have even squeezed in a couple of public musical performances (one at a local bar and one at an organic farmstand), Spanish lessons, new friendships, and the preparation of fine cuisine (primarily involving our new favorite fruit, the maracuya).
However, surfing has been the overriding focus ever since good waves showed up just in time for the big Canoa surf comp (maybe you saw it in the news? The Canoa Pro Classic) several weeks ago. The locals boys struggled against the rippers from Montanitas and Atacames, but one squeezed onto the podium in third to salvage the town´s pride.
Rose, I am proud to announce, has been killing it in the waves lately, making huge strides - surfing til her ribs ache, popping a few Advil, and paddling back out for another session. Her recent highlights include a clean, green, hundred-yard long left at Mompiche that brought all us spectators on the beach to our feet, clapping and hooting.
Our Mompiche trip from last week (Mompiche is Ecuador´s finest wave, an incredible lefthand pointbreak) was pretty incredible. We tagged along on a spur of the moment trip some friends were making, and lucked into some truly amazing waves during one of the best (and biggest!) swells to hit Mompiche in a couple of years. Although Mompiche lies less than 150 km north of Canoa, it takes about 6 hours in various buses and pickup trucks (a bit more if you end up walking the last 8 km like we had to due to the dearth of passing cars to flag down...). However, we were rewarded by amazing waves reeling off a rocky point break, every bit as gorgeous as those glossy Indonesia spreads in the surf mags. The big set waves on our first afternoon were solid double-overhead, with glassy calm conditions - truly amazing! The rides were so long it would take 20 minutes to paddle back out to catch another. The wave starts breaking over a reef directly in front of some nasty rocks, and the first section is fast and hollow, but then slows down and rolls more slowly and relentlessly over a nice sandy bottom all the way into the bay - something for everyone! The other highlight from Mompiche was an earthquake (two actually but I slept through the second) - a solid 30 seconds of strong shaking that sent coke bottles shattering across the floor, put a big crack in the roof of the restaraunt we were in, and knocked down a few walls next door. It left us a bit jittery, but the locals were unfazed and no tsunami followed.
Lest our readership start thinking that our life down here in Ecuador has been nothing but fun and games let me compile a short list of the various ailments we have suffered in the last two weeks: bruised ribs, countless sandfly bites, a wasp sting, a stingray sting, a smallpox-like armpit rash (fungal infection?), plus a pair of feet covered in scrapes, scars, and bruises from rock encounters (I didn´t quite master the elegant leap off the rocks which shortcuts the long swim out in Mompiche...).
And in other news, the freckles on my back have finally melded into one uniform, pre-cancerous blotch, and my hair has grown so long that everyone I meet tries to sell me pot. And Rose´s fiddle playing has become so sweet that she has been inundated by requests for lessons, in spite of the fact that she has the only violin in all of Manabi...
Hope this message finds everyone in fine spirits and health heading into the holidays,
Ty
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
San Andreas de Canoa
Hello Friends,
We've had a great couple of weeks here in Canoa, though somewhat anti-climactic. Some of you may have heard about the earthquake that recently hit the coast of Ecuador. Although it was a 6.6 you all probably heard about it before we did. It hit at 10.30 PM last Friday as we learned from our landlord Ricardo the following morning. As he described it, dogs were barking, kids cried, people ran into the streets and Ty and I...slept.
The following morning some great waves rolled in and Ty went out for an early morning surf session. He had all the waves to himself, a fact easily attributed to the thriving night life here. A friend told us yesterday however, that there was a Tsunami warning that morning which was likely more to blame for the lack of surfers than any debilitating hangovers. He'd noticed Ty out there and assumed that Ty was trying to catch the wave of his life. Thankfully the Tsunami never came, but the good waves lasted through the weekend.
When Ty and I aren't chasing waves around and simultaneously trying to hide our pale selves from the equatorial sun, we've both found some new projects to jump into. Ty has become a master handline fisherman, stocking our fridge and freezer with all sorts of fresh fish and contributing to the sudden and welcome spike in our ceviche consumption. Recently we also started polishing some tunes as our Spanish teacher --we finally began taking Spanish classes--invited us to play at the bar/restaurant/hotel where she works, during the ubiquotously popular "hoppy our" as it is known here in Canoa.
I've been spending some time volunteering in the local elementary school. My first day there I thought I was just going to observe and figure out a schedule-which two weeks later remains elusive. That first mornign it became apparent that observing meant teaching an impromptu art class which ended abrubtly when all the students in the school flooded the playground for reasons that still remain mysterious to me. I followed them out there and bumped into the 2nd grade teacher who beseachingly invited me to teach an English lesson to her class of 40. I can't imagine what her classroom is like with all her students are in attendence becuase with 35 it struck me as surreal and even apocolyptic. The chaos was exacerbated by the presence of the drum and bugle corp. practicing immediately outside our classroom, which lacks upper walls. Inside the classroom a particularly small and meek looking girl pounded on desks with a long 2x2--which I later learned the teacher used on her students' knuckles when they misbehaved--expressing the authority that I lacked. A little boy removed the top of his rusting desk and began precarously lugging it around the classroom with an undisclosed destination in mind. Meanwhile 2 other little boys had their hands around each other's neck and seemed to be applying pressure. An endless line of girls in groups of 2 had to use the bathroom and while they wandered out, a puppy and then a toddler wandered in. A boy awkwardly tried pushing the puppy up a girl's skirt while the toddler seated itself on teaching platform and sucked on its passifier, engrossed with the boys who were climbing the window bars. Similar scenes seem to be the accepted reality in schools here. So, if any of you parents and teachers have tips on your art, I could use your guidance.
I hope you all enjoy a tasty Thanksgiving surrounded by loved-ones.
Rosa
We've had a great couple of weeks here in Canoa, though somewhat anti-climactic. Some of you may have heard about the earthquake that recently hit the coast of Ecuador. Although it was a 6.6 you all probably heard about it before we did. It hit at 10.30 PM last Friday as we learned from our landlord Ricardo the following morning. As he described it, dogs were barking, kids cried, people ran into the streets and Ty and I...slept.
The following morning some great waves rolled in and Ty went out for an early morning surf session. He had all the waves to himself, a fact easily attributed to the thriving night life here. A friend told us yesterday however, that there was a Tsunami warning that morning which was likely more to blame for the lack of surfers than any debilitating hangovers. He'd noticed Ty out there and assumed that Ty was trying to catch the wave of his life. Thankfully the Tsunami never came, but the good waves lasted through the weekend.
When Ty and I aren't chasing waves around and simultaneously trying to hide our pale selves from the equatorial sun, we've both found some new projects to jump into. Ty has become a master handline fisherman, stocking our fridge and freezer with all sorts of fresh fish and contributing to the sudden and welcome spike in our ceviche consumption. Recently we also started polishing some tunes as our Spanish teacher --we finally began taking Spanish classes--invited us to play at the bar/restaurant/hotel where she works, during the ubiquotously popular "hoppy our" as it is known here in Canoa.
I've been spending some time volunteering in the local elementary school. My first day there I thought I was just going to observe and figure out a schedule-which two weeks later remains elusive. That first mornign it became apparent that observing meant teaching an impromptu art class which ended abrubtly when all the students in the school flooded the playground for reasons that still remain mysterious to me. I followed them out there and bumped into the 2nd grade teacher who beseachingly invited me to teach an English lesson to her class of 40. I can't imagine what her classroom is like with all her students are in attendence becuase with 35 it struck me as surreal and even apocolyptic. The chaos was exacerbated by the presence of the drum and bugle corp. practicing immediately outside our classroom, which lacks upper walls. Inside the classroom a particularly small and meek looking girl pounded on desks with a long 2x2--which I later learned the teacher used on her students' knuckles when they misbehaved--expressing the authority that I lacked. A little boy removed the top of his rusting desk and began precarously lugging it around the classroom with an undisclosed destination in mind. Meanwhile 2 other little boys had their hands around each other's neck and seemed to be applying pressure. An endless line of girls in groups of 2 had to use the bathroom and while they wandered out, a puppy and then a toddler wandered in. A boy awkwardly tried pushing the puppy up a girl's skirt while the toddler seated itself on teaching platform and sucked on its passifier, engrossed with the boys who were climbing the window bars. Similar scenes seem to be the accepted reality in schools here. So, if any of you parents and teachers have tips on your art, I could use your guidance.
I hope you all enjoy a tasty Thanksgiving surrounded by loved-ones.
Rosa
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Photos!
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| Peru and Ecuador |
As promised, some photos from Peru and Ecuador. Just click on the image above and check out the slidshow. Enjoy!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Domestic Bliss
During our visit with her in Peru, my aunt Elena, in a good-hearted effort to encourage us to quit our ramblin´ways and settle down, threatened to buy us that paragon of stable domesticity, the blender cozy. We resisted strenuously, but it turns out that the joke is on us, because here we are, mere weeks later, settled down in Canoa, Ecuador, renting a furnished apartment and wishing we had an embroidered cozy to cover our unsightly blender.
Regardless, we are very psyched to be settled for a while, after nearly a month of steady travel. First a quick update on our path to Canoa, then a bit more about the lovely village itself as well as our present attitude and station. (I have been reading Dickens as of late, patient reader, and I fear it has influenced my writing style in an adverse manner)
Anyhow, we moved north from Mancora (the site of Rose´s sunburn which is healing nicely, no scars) on an epic bus ride, aided by a friendly Argentine fellow traveler, to Montanita, which was still bustling at 2 AM when we arrived. Convenient, as we could grab a hamburger to curb our hunger at that ghastly hour, but not great for sleeping as we were soon to find. Montanita has a nice righthand point break, and a restaraunt that serves terrific coffee and huge Ecuadorian breakfasts (The Happy Donkey), but was just a bit too wild for us. All night parties every night, 2 for 1 drinks from 6:30 til close (6AM) at all the bars, blaring music competing for dominance over the natural silence of the night... Anyhow, after a few days we headed north again to Puerto Lopez, where we did some kayaking (we saw humpback whales, a sea turtle, and swamped on every single surf landing!) and a bike tour. Then north again to Canoa, where we now reside, via yet another epic bus ride. This one was supposed to take 5 hours, but ended up lasting 8. In fact, we have yet to take a bus ride that didn´t take hours longer than the advertised length. Luckily this one passed quickly, entertained as we were by some wonderful kung fu movies, played at maximum volume. Though my spanish comprehension is still lagging, I could follow these pretty well, and cheered loudly with everyone else as the protagonist delivered his trademark death blow, a sequential chest-pounding which leaves his victim apparently unscathed until his head explodes nearly a minute later!
After a few days in Canoa, we decided it met our criteria for a longer stay, tranquility, warm water, waves, trails and dirt roads to run on, a spanish school, and good fruit smoothies. We lucked out and quickly found the perfect little rental, a 2-story brick place (we are hoping for a seismically inactive stay, as the town was levelled in 1941 and 1998 - ironically the patron saint of the town is San Andreas). We have a dining room table made from a huge log round, fully stocked kitchen with fridge and stove/oven and a USA style bathroom downstairs, and two bedrooms and a balcony upstairs.
I won´t bore you with scenes of recent domestic tranquility but here is a taste: preparing fresh dorado ceviche, playing some tunes on the three (yes readers, three) stringed instruments we brought, pan-roasting green coffee beans for the morning´s coffee, trips to market, trying to teach the neighborhood kids how to play the mandolin and fiddle, Rose baking terriffic bread, endless blender-loads of fresh fruit smoothies (including my new favorite flavor, avocado, try it!). Plus we bought an 8 foot funboard (after a brutal haggling session to bring down the price, which ballooned with our interest) so we have been surfing a bunch.
Anyhow, loyal readers, some photos eventually I promise, as well as a tale of getting lost in the jungle with nothing but the roars of howler monkeys ringing in our ears...
Regardless, we are very psyched to be settled for a while, after nearly a month of steady travel. First a quick update on our path to Canoa, then a bit more about the lovely village itself as well as our present attitude and station. (I have been reading Dickens as of late, patient reader, and I fear it has influenced my writing style in an adverse manner)
Anyhow, we moved north from Mancora (the site of Rose´s sunburn which is healing nicely, no scars) on an epic bus ride, aided by a friendly Argentine fellow traveler, to Montanita, which was still bustling at 2 AM when we arrived. Convenient, as we could grab a hamburger to curb our hunger at that ghastly hour, but not great for sleeping as we were soon to find. Montanita has a nice righthand point break, and a restaraunt that serves terrific coffee and huge Ecuadorian breakfasts (The Happy Donkey), but was just a bit too wild for us. All night parties every night, 2 for 1 drinks from 6:30 til close (6AM) at all the bars, blaring music competing for dominance over the natural silence of the night... Anyhow, after a few days we headed north again to Puerto Lopez, where we did some kayaking (we saw humpback whales, a sea turtle, and swamped on every single surf landing!) and a bike tour. Then north again to Canoa, where we now reside, via yet another epic bus ride. This one was supposed to take 5 hours, but ended up lasting 8. In fact, we have yet to take a bus ride that didn´t take hours longer than the advertised length. Luckily this one passed quickly, entertained as we were by some wonderful kung fu movies, played at maximum volume. Though my spanish comprehension is still lagging, I could follow these pretty well, and cheered loudly with everyone else as the protagonist delivered his trademark death blow, a sequential chest-pounding which leaves his victim apparently unscathed until his head explodes nearly a minute later!
After a few days in Canoa, we decided it met our criteria for a longer stay, tranquility, warm water, waves, trails and dirt roads to run on, a spanish school, and good fruit smoothies. We lucked out and quickly found the perfect little rental, a 2-story brick place (we are hoping for a seismically inactive stay, as the town was levelled in 1941 and 1998 - ironically the patron saint of the town is San Andreas). We have a dining room table made from a huge log round, fully stocked kitchen with fridge and stove/oven and a USA style bathroom downstairs, and two bedrooms and a balcony upstairs.
I won´t bore you with scenes of recent domestic tranquility but here is a taste: preparing fresh dorado ceviche, playing some tunes on the three (yes readers, three) stringed instruments we brought, pan-roasting green coffee beans for the morning´s coffee, trips to market, trying to teach the neighborhood kids how to play the mandolin and fiddle, Rose baking terriffic bread, endless blender-loads of fresh fruit smoothies (including my new favorite flavor, avocado, try it!). Plus we bought an 8 foot funboard (after a brutal haggling session to bring down the price, which ballooned with our interest) so we have been surfing a bunch.
Anyhow, loyal readers, some photos eventually I promise, as well as a tale of getting lost in the jungle with nothing but the roars of howler monkeys ringing in our ears...
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Chan Chan, or how we came to give our email addresses to 30 Peruvian schoolgirls
Sorry bout the lack of updates, but we have been busy travelers. Anyhow, we are up in Ecuador, in a town called Puerto Lopez. Ecuador is much greener and swarming with Vermillion Flycatchers, which never cease to impress me with their bright plumage. When we crossed the border from Peru we asked the guy next to us in the bus what sort of currency they use in Ecuador (quetzales? sucres?). Turns out they use the good ol US dollar, which is oh so convenient as we no longer have to divide everything by 3 to figure how much it costs.
We have been migrating north in seach of warmer water (which we have found!) and sun (no sign of any of that yet). Apparently the sunny season on the coast doesn´t begin for a couple more weeks. Maybe this is a good thing, since the last sunny day (in Mancora, Peru) resulted in some pretty serious sunburn on Rose´s legs. In fact, she is just now walking without a limp and it is about a week later (slight exaggeration maybe). The only consolation was that the burn was acquired during a great surf session in which she caught a bunch of sweet waves... Small price to pay? We´ll have to see how the scars turn out... Anyhow, we migrated relatively quickly north along the frigid and desolate Peruvian coast. We had a great visit with my aunt Elena, a nun living in Chulucanas, Peru. She showed us all sort of interesting local sights and introduced us to our new favorite pastime, the siesta!
Anyhow, before it drifts too far into the past to remember, I just wanted to relate a funny experience we had down by the town of Trujillo, Peru:
As you can well imagine, Rose and I blend right in down here, except for the fact that we are really white and a head taller than everyone else. We are somewhat self-conscious about our conspicuousness. In fact, the highlight of our trip so far was being mistaken for Brazilians the other day - how cool is that?
Anyhow, one day we were strolling around the ruins of Chan Chan, a huge, pre-colombian adobe city and ran into a huge herd of 12-13 yr. old schoolgirls, dressed in matching uniforms. They were out for a holiday trip (8th of October, anniversary of a war with Chile that I think Peru actually lost) and didn´t seem too keen on the adobe city. However, they were fascinated by us, especially after we started to chat with them a little bit. Pretty soon were were being mobbed with questions (How old are you? How many kids to you have? What the heck kind of name is Ty? (¨Rosa¨ rolls nicely off the castillophonic tongue)), requests for photos with us, and our email addresses. After posing for a bunch of photos and writing our email a couple of dozen times, they were so kind as to give us a ride in their bus back to the main road, saving a kilometer or two of walking. Anyhow, now we have a little sense of what it feels like to be a rock star - or at least the member of a tween-oriented pop group. Should be good preparation in case our musical careers finally start to take off...
More soon loyal readers, and maybe even a photo or two.
Ty
We have been migrating north in seach of warmer water (which we have found!) and sun (no sign of any of that yet). Apparently the sunny season on the coast doesn´t begin for a couple more weeks. Maybe this is a good thing, since the last sunny day (in Mancora, Peru) resulted in some pretty serious sunburn on Rose´s legs. In fact, she is just now walking without a limp and it is about a week later (slight exaggeration maybe). The only consolation was that the burn was acquired during a great surf session in which she caught a bunch of sweet waves... Small price to pay? We´ll have to see how the scars turn out... Anyhow, we migrated relatively quickly north along the frigid and desolate Peruvian coast. We had a great visit with my aunt Elena, a nun living in Chulucanas, Peru. She showed us all sort of interesting local sights and introduced us to our new favorite pastime, the siesta!
Anyhow, before it drifts too far into the past to remember, I just wanted to relate a funny experience we had down by the town of Trujillo, Peru:
As you can well imagine, Rose and I blend right in down here, except for the fact that we are really white and a head taller than everyone else. We are somewhat self-conscious about our conspicuousness. In fact, the highlight of our trip so far was being mistaken for Brazilians the other day - how cool is that?
Anyhow, one day we were strolling around the ruins of Chan Chan, a huge, pre-colombian adobe city and ran into a huge herd of 12-13 yr. old schoolgirls, dressed in matching uniforms. They were out for a holiday trip (8th of October, anniversary of a war with Chile that I think Peru actually lost) and didn´t seem too keen on the adobe city. However, they were fascinated by us, especially after we started to chat with them a little bit. Pretty soon were were being mobbed with questions (How old are you? How many kids to you have? What the heck kind of name is Ty? (¨Rosa¨ rolls nicely off the castillophonic tongue)), requests for photos with us, and our email addresses. After posing for a bunch of photos and writing our email a couple of dozen times, they were so kind as to give us a ride in their bus back to the main road, saving a kilometer or two of walking. Anyhow, now we have a little sense of what it feels like to be a rock star - or at least the member of a tween-oriented pop group. Should be good preparation in case our musical careers finally start to take off...
More soon loyal readers, and maybe even a photo or two.
Ty
Monday, October 8, 2007
Huanchaco
Greetings from Huanchaco, Peru! We arrived in this quiet beach town on Saterday after spending 3 days in Lima visiting museums, dodging traffic, and trying to decipher Spanish language newspapers (things are not looking good for Pinochet´s family). Among the more unusual museums we visited was El Monestario de los Dezcalsos (monestary of the barefooted monks). It has an enourmous collection of Peruvian religious art decorating the monks´quarters, preserved from the 17th century. We toured the rooms where the monks slept, ate, prayed, made wine, and mixed medecines. The monestary was, and still is, an oasis in the midst of a pretty overwhelming city, made more so by the remarkable amount of diesel in the air. After 3 days we felt glad to board a bus for the 10 hr. overnight ride north which began with a viewing of ¨Die Hard 4 ¨ that made the journey through the endless outskirts of Lima all the more riveting.
Although Lima was stimulating, it feels great to be in a more tranquil town where a person can hear the ocean and breath clean air, smell the ceviche! We spent some time in the water yesterday, I laying on my surf board and paddling around more than standing on it. The surfers here share the waves with men dressed in blue pants and white shirts, a sash around their waste paddling slender and pointed boats made of reeds. Traditionally a fisherman´s sport, they paddle out in unison and seem to share a ride on the same wave back into shore--no competition for waves there.
Pues, we´re heading into the neighboring town of Trujillo today to check out language schools now. So, look for the next EMM in Spanish!
Hasta luego,
Rosa
Although Lima was stimulating, it feels great to be in a more tranquil town where a person can hear the ocean and breath clean air, smell the ceviche! We spent some time in the water yesterday, I laying on my surf board and paddling around more than standing on it. The surfers here share the waves with men dressed in blue pants and white shirts, a sash around their waste paddling slender and pointed boats made of reeds. Traditionally a fisherman´s sport, they paddle out in unison and seem to share a ride on the same wave back into shore--no competition for waves there.
Pues, we´re heading into the neighboring town of Trujillo today to check out language schools now. So, look for the next EMM in Spanish!
Hasta luego,
Rosa
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Back in Time - Delicate Arch
Still in Wyoming - til October 2 when the long road finally heads south! We've been enjoying the lovely fall weather and colors. Backpacking, fishing, climbing, traveling, and catching up with friends.
Anyhow, the purpose of this EMM is to show some photos from back on the road in the spring, which we are just now getting sorted.
These images are from a great jaunt into Arches National Park for an evening picnic and light show at Delicate Arch, which is still standing in spite of the reports of a notorious soul climber/free soloist trying to tear it down...
In addition to the lovely arch view, Rose and I met some fascinating expat Russian amatuer photographers on a whirlwind (5 day, 4 state) southwest photo tour. They noticed Rose and I eating a dry supper of bread and cheese (and a cucumber) and gave us a beer to wash it down with. Then they included us in their celebratory dessert of port and fresh grapes (nice combo!) and entertained us with tales from their epic photographic odyssey. They were ecstatic about the photos they nabbed of the arch, and relieved to be travelling without their wives, who apparently prefer souvenir shopping to marathon 5 hour drives between photo sites - imagine!
Enjoy the photos,
Ty
Anyhow, the purpose of this EMM is to show some photos from back on the road in the spring, which we are just now getting sorted.
These images are from a great jaunt into Arches National Park for an evening picnic and light show at Delicate Arch, which is still standing in spite of the reports of a notorious soul climber/free soloist trying to tear it down...
In addition to the lovely arch view, Rose and I met some fascinating expat Russian amatuer photographers on a whirlwind (5 day, 4 state) southwest photo tour. They noticed Rose and I eating a dry supper of bread and cheese (and a cucumber) and gave us a beer to wash it down with. Then they included us in their celebratory dessert of port and fresh grapes (nice combo!) and entertained us with tales from their epic photographic odyssey. They were ecstatic about the photos they nabbed of the arch, and relieved to be travelling without their wives, who apparently prefer souvenir shopping to marathon 5 hour drives between photo sites - imagine!
Enjoy the photos,
Ty
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| Delicate Arch |
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