My Trip to Canoa

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Hola!
As I left it last I was wandering around Quito. My final day there I walked through a park where a lot of artists were selling their paintings and an outdoor market was set up. It was there in a nice booth of handicrafts and weaving that I saw a beanie type hat with the New York Yankees symbol. How sad, I thought as I looked up and saw another NYY baseball cap coming my way. It was definitely time to get out of the city and learn some Spanish...

Now the bus ride from Quito to Canoa on the coast was quite an adventure. Around 7:30am I found myself at the main bus terminal in front of the bus that was recommended by the Spanish school. It was not one of the luxury bus places but a very popular one none the less. I must have been looking pretty bewildered, as a man came up to me and ask where I was going (at least that´s how I interpreted it)....I responded ´San Vicente´. He asked me something else, and my response was ¨San Vicente¨. In fact my response to anything he could have said was going to be ´San Vicente´. So the next thing I knew I was being pulled through a narrow walk way past lots of men just standing around and brought to a bus. And really before I realized much I was on my way somewhere.
The trip to somewhere proved to be filled with lots of chaos. First the view through the Andes was amazing. Then the really curvy roads and fast driving proved to be to much for my stomach and I curled up in a tight ball and lamented about my Dramamine in my bag under the bus. But that was okay because as I was worried about my stomach I did´t have to worry about the fact that all the honking was the bus passing other cars on a curvy two lane mountain hwy. Or the honking of other cars as they encountered a bus in their lane on those blind mountain curves.
When the terrain leveled out the fun began. At every stop people would hop on the bus selling whatever they wanted. Fruit, yogurt, papas fruits, water, coke, sunglasses. It all came by your seat. But that´s not all, sometimes you would get a true salesman who would stand in front of the bus and give a lecture. One such man was giving a health lesson on different types of cancer (he even had diagrams), all to sell you on the wonders of ginseng. And in the mist of all this more and more people were getting on the bus, to the point of people sitting and standing in the aisles, and with the driver. I´ve never had so much fun on a long bus ride.

But all things must end and mine did abruptly. The nice man from Quito was still on the bus and he came and asked me if San Vicente was my last stop. I told him that I planned to continue on to Canoa. Oops. I should have changed buses at the last stop. But no worries if I got off right then the bus that I needed was right behind the one I was on. So off I got, climbing over people and quickly grabbing my bag. Withing two minutes I was seated on a new bus, and it only took my about two more to realize I had left my fleece on the other one. Bummer and bye to my fleece.
So after a couple of minutes in mourning, I tried in my broken Spanish to let the bus driver know that I wanted to get off the bus 2km before Canoa at my hostel/ school. I thought he understood until I saw the place fly by. So needless to say I ended up standing in the street in Canoa, 2km from where I wanted to be. Double Bummer.
But not to worry, I put a smile on my face walked up to the first people I saw and said ´help me´. They did´t really help me get to my hostel but they did take me to the hotel where they were staying. It was a family that was celebrating a birthday. Most of them did´t speak much English except for one girl who had taken it in school, and since I did´t know much Spanish it was slow going. But I did manage to talk one of the women out of marrying my father (Sorry Dad that I ruined your chances), and I got another marriage proposal for myself. I got out of that one too, but I have to come back in 5 years if I´m still ´not taken´! Anyway I was still wondering how I was going to get to the correct hotel when, through a random chain of events and people knowing people, the owner of my hotel/school and and picked me up.
So over twelve hours after I left, all I wanted was a bed. Which I fell into promptly and did´t wake until breakfast the next day.
That brings me up to about two weeks ago but as this is getting long, I´ll leave my days in Canoa for another time. But to give you a taste about what I´ve been doing for the past couple of weeks- it involves a hammock and a beach!

Observations:
1) One just cannot get away from the New York Yankees
2) Buses can be a highly entertaining way to travel
3) Dramamine is very important stuff to remember
4) I´m probably never going to stop being a flake, but I´m going to have to get rich to be able to replace all that I lose.
5) Help comes in the strangest ways
6) Two marriage proposals in one week... not bad.
7) Sometimes all you need to be happy is a place to sleep!

Adios!
Liz
Oh, about the Lizardo thing. Lizardo is an actual name, no one has ever heard of a Lizarda (I could be the first!) But Lagarta is Lizard in Spanish- it also means a sly woman. So many options...

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Comments

[BE]

fear not...
An extra fleece always awaits you in Boston...someone on that bus must have needed it more than you so think about all the fantastic karma that will bring you, by default... Yankees in town for the weekend...headed to the Cask and Flagon with the rest of the faithful nation and will toast to you! Word of advice on the Dramamine - had you taken it on the bus you would have slept through to the next country - I highly advocate the lesser known cousin to the original formula known as "Less Drowsy Dramamine" - seek it out for it will serve you well when you run out of the original formula... ¡buenas tardes prima!