Hanging Loose in Puerto Lopez

---

Geo: -1.56124, -80.8072

If you've ever ridden a night bus in Ecuador, you know about the pat-downs. On the surface anyway, Ecuador is very concerned about security. We were all searched before we could board--one woman to search the whole load of us. Our bags, our persons--they patted down some people and did a cursory look with others. Bob was really hoping for a strip search, but I guess we just don't look suspicious enough. We could have had all kinds of nasty ammo on us; they'd never have known.

I didn't do very good choosing the bus, I'm afraid. It was a semi-cama which means the seats lean back 3" more than an airplane's--not the nearly full recline plush leather seats of the full-cama buses we'd always taken in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. Our knees were jammed into the seat in front of us for 10 hours.

What I really did love tho was the singing. Every time a jazzy Latin song came on girls all over the bus sang their hearts out. I mean WITH GUSTO. It was most fun.

But I'm dawdling. Let me get to the fun part.

At 5:30 this morning we pull into Puerto Lopez and look around for Fredi from the language school. No Fredi. But a very nice taxi man knew Fredi and said he was probably still sleeping and he'd take us there.

Okay.

What do they call a rickshaw when it's really a motorbike? Or half a motorbike. That's what he put us in. We were more than delighted. We've found the cutest little town!! It couldn't be much more different from Quito.

Muy tranquilo, they say. Very calm. No worries. Slow pace.

We're in little elevated cabanas with thatched roofs and windows with shutters--no glass, no screen, just shutters. They have a bed and a bathroom, and our professor's wife fixes us breakfast each morning. A sign in the bathroom says to limit showers to 5 minutes and not to shower after 6:30pm. We had about enough water this morning for 1 1/4 showers before it quit. Guess who got the 1/4 shower? They said the cistern was empty. Sorry. We'll have more water later today when the truck comes.

It's a major problem in this country of mile high mountains and tons of rivers, that there are many areas without water and certainly many more with no drinking water. This town and much of the coast area of Manabi has to have their water delivered by truck.

A girl staying at the Travelers Inn in Quito when we were was writing her dissertation on Ecuador's water problems and as she was telling us about it, Anthony from Ireland, another friend we met, told us about his volunteer work here on the coast just north of where we are right now, where they had at least 2 days a week with no water at all. Foreigners can buy water, he says, but the local population--the ones living on $2 a day, are drinking foul water and getting typhoid, etc.

Here, the problems are worse. They've had 17 days without water.

Racquel, our instructor's wife, tells us that water for their family and the few students they have costs them $100 a month. We're just talking water--not drinking water for us foreigners that they also supply. This is simply water from the faucet--any faucet. There are so many families that cannot pay that. How do they live? For 17 days they've had no water. I can't even process that. I grew up in rainy western Oregon. This just doesn't compute for me.

Every time we travel we are grateful all over again that the problems we have in our own country do not include this. Sure, we have many serious problems, but some of these countries are really really struggling for basics we take so much for granted.

Ligia, the director of the language school, is here in Puerto Lopez for the weekend so we spent some time with her and a Korean student she brought with her from Quito. We went to dinner on the beach, then swimming and jumping through the waves. All the while she's gently teaching us Spanish. Learning while you're doing something fun is the BEST!

Now we're sitting out on our little deck watching the sunset and catching the fresh evening breezes. We're not making you too jealous are we?

---

Photos

Our bed
I told Bob I feel like a princess sleeping under this thing.

17 days since the town's had water
Unless you pay to have it trucked in, you're dry.

This may not look like much...
but it's the first we've seen in South America. Hurray for Ecuador.

These boys wanted un dolar for this picture
I told them nice try.

Comments

[Nancy]

I really enjoy reading your blogs. Keep sending them. Can't say that I wish I was there though, just enjoy being there through you. Have a great day!!!!

[Becky]

Love the pictures.

[bobnkaren]

Thanks!

[Kari]

I love this! I want to go to school here.

[bobnkaren]

We pulled into this town about 5:15 AM after hardly any sleep and tumbled out into a taximoto that made us giggle and then drove up to this. We thought we'd been spirited away. It's adorable.