I Move to Montañita

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I left Quito in a hurry on Tuesday night to beat a bus strike and get Mariana back to Quito by Friday. We had to leave a lot faster than I expected and I forgot a few things in the rush....my guitar, my aloe, my guidebook. I barely caught the night bus to Puerto Lopez, followed by a another bus to the Sanctuario Santa Maria Del Fiat, which is where I'll be living for the next two months.

The Sanctuario sits on a cliff above the pacific ocean (in sight of Montañita) and provides a school, home or both for 800 children. The yougest they have now is 5 weeks old, and was found abondoned in the street on the day he was born. Because he's so young, finding him a home is easy (14 families have expressed interest so far), but some of the teenagers have been at the school since they were 5 or 6.

The main building (which houses the main church, public rooms, and bedrooms of permanent staff) is shaped like a ship.... resembling Noah's Ark a bit. It is also home to a certified miracle - a statue of the Virgin Mary that cried 14 years ago. Look closely and you can see the tracks of her tears. She is kept in a small, and now somewhat famous, chapel off of the formal dining/sitting room I ate breakfast in on the day I arrived (with Mariana and Katy, a volunteer now staying in Quito). The room reminds me somehow of the novel ¨Rebecca,¨ with the dark furniture, formal china and waves crashing far below. Every meal since, I've eaten in the main dining room with the priests, nuns, missionaries and novice missionaries. I'm not sure yet who are nuns and who are missionaries. The priests are impossible to miss, as they are given the best of everything (even better food and plates than the rest of us).

I live in a smaller building next door to Nina, a 23 year old volunteer from Switrzerland who arrived three weeks ago. Our rooms have doors directly to the outside, like a motel, but inside a gated area. Not sure who else, if anyone is staying in our building.

I've been told I'll spend my mornings teaching English to children, and my afternoons teaching English to the missionaries, or nuns (not sure), but for now, the children have a week off from classes, so I´ve beentasked with taking the youngest gorup to the beach, playing games, etc. It's a lot of sun so soon after the Andes, and I'm pretty sunburnt, despite my vigilant reapplications of sunscreen.

In my free time, I either read, go down to the beach, or explore Montañita.... a surf village which Nina says reminds her of the movie ¨The Beach.¨ She says the missionaries don't like us spending time there because of its hedonistic atmosphere, but they haven't said anything to me about it. It's a very international crowd here, with lots of restaraunts, surf shops and a nightlife I haven't yet had a chance to explore (although I intend to next weekend). I also hope to take surf lessons soon, but want to let my poor burned skin heal a little first.

As much as I like our little surf village, it's not the place to buy anything practical, so yesterday Nina and I went to the town of La Libertad. The hot, crowded bus took about 90 munites to make the journey, and the destination was a bit of a disappointment. I'd expected that we would be the only tourists, but I thought we'd at least be able to find most of the things we'd come to buy, and at reasonable prices. As it was, I found one or two things, and we grabbed lunch in sight of the ocean (there is no beach there), with a view of the fishing boats. Afterwards, we stopped in Manglaralto (not much to see) and then had a great vegetarian dinner in Montañita. I may have found a new favorite restaurant (had lunch there again today).

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