Update...at last

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I realize it has been a while since I last updated my journal but I have been very.....ok, I will admit it, I have been just plain lazy. Anyway, here goes an update.

My spanish is coming along, slowly but it is getting better. I seem to have a decent understanding of the basic gramatical structure ad the sounds of the letters. More importantly I am gaining enough confidence to be able to ask strangers for directions etc. Now it is just practicing my pronunciation and expanding my vocabulary. I will leave the learning of the 14 (yes 14) different verb tenses for a later date. I can´t help but to compare myself to a first grader (alright, comments from the peanut gallery are not necessary!hahaha)learning how to read. I see words and slowly sound out the syllables and become very pleased with myself if I can manage to pronounce the word in a somewhat recgonizable manner. It also becomes a huge victory when I am able to get my point across in spanish. Lets just say learning a new language as an adult is a very humbling, and sometimes frustrating, experience.

Lately, my days have been pretty laid back. I am bartending in the beachside bar and usually open it for about 3pm - 8pm. I know, tough job but someone has to do it! Life is really not that exciting, but I am enjoying the relaxed pace.

New Years on the other hand was an experience. For New Years each household/business constructs a paper mache statue of a person or a popular cartoon figure, like sponge bob. For the week before the new year several street vendors sell the heads for these statues and it is quite the site to see a cart with 20 heads on it. These ´statues´get lit on fire at midnight and represent a fresh start to the new year. What you don´t realize is that they are filled with firecrackers. This is definately not an event for those who are skitish. It is also quite amazing that the entire country doesn´t go up in smoke.

Montañita also has it´s own traditions and I am convinced that I will never experience another New Years quite like it. About 5 minutes before midnight most people head to the beach, which sounds normal. It is just a few minutes before midnight that things get crazy. With all of the tourists and nonlocals on the beach suddenly you hear what can only be described as what Hollywood portrays as a war cry. It is the local surfers running to the beach, with their boards to surf in the new year. Although my photos didn´t turn out the image of the locals surfing in the dark, illuminated by fireworks and a beach bonfire, while those on the beach chant Ecuador will be foirever etched in my memory.

Well that is about it for now. I will try and get another entry in about my trip to Guayaquil and iguana park by the end of the week.

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