I would have posted something sooner but there was never really a good time in Montañita. I was always too busy with language school, surfing, salsa dancing, and plenty of vomiting. It was certainly a packed two weeks of which I have mixed feelings about. While I met some fun folks and had a few interesting experiences I was more than happy to shove off to the next destination. I would recommend staying a week to anyone. Two weeks is really pushing it.
• Montañita isn't terrible mind you, it just isn't my bag of purified water. For starters, it's apparently off season (although I got conflicting reports), which means the weather is particularly gloomy. The sky is perpetually grey, overcast, and spitting rain with the exception of 10 miraculous minutes of pure sunshine I witnessed one afternoon. This in itself wouldn't be so much of a problem but unfortunately the town has an engineering and sewage issue. Two hours of mist can cause the streets to become a thick sea of mud and muck you could lose a small child in. It was funny the first few days but increasingly became an annoyance.
• Montañita claims itself a surfing destination. I can't contest this as there are plenty of restaurants and bars with the word "surf" in their name. The town's economy is based on tourism and seems to attract a lot of neohippy transients . You know the kind - sort of unwashed and malnourished, with a back pack the size of a large calf. It's the kind of person that might break out with a hackey sack, bum 5 dollars, or sell you jewelry at any moment. Anyway, I assume it's good surfing here. I don't know, I come from a land locked state. It's just not my scene.
• Katie and I are here to study in a Spanish immersion program that just happens to also provide surfing lessons. So we've chosen to do both. The name of the school is Montañita Spanish and Surf, which so far has been a pretty good experience, no complaints. They've got it together for the most part and I can recommend them. After about 4 days of surfing lessons I can ride a wave of my own choosing for a short period of time. I think it would take several more weeks of practice to not look ridiculous trying.
• We stay at the school's private cabañas which are open air, hut like, private rooms. Apparently they are next to a farm or zoo because several different species of birds will wake us up at different intervals in the night including a rooster operating on a different time zone.
• I've had quite a few variations of arroz con pollo, lots of bananas, fish, fruit juices of every sort. I've found it's pretty standard Ecuadorian fare. I was surprised to find that many of the menus also had a section with Italian-esque food like spaghetti and pizza which I'm assuming is for tourists. I did try the pizza. A pleasant surprise was a barbeque joint called the "Happy Donkey". My assumptions were wrong about this place and I had my best meal there. As far as I know they don't actually serve donkey.
• I'm curious about the seemingly feral dogs that wander the streets and enter random restaurants with impunity. I often see collars but I never see the owners. Sometimes they run in packs down the street but most of the time I see them guarding territory and begging for food. They literally walk into restaurants. The dogs give you a pathetic "woe is me" look and if that doesn't work they change tactics and start to hump something until you give in. Occasionally you'll find a cat or two holed up in the makeshift safehouse that is the kitchen. I'm sure it's a dangerous town for cats. I wonder if there are any health codes in the town and if so how do they read?
Maybe something like, "All employees must wash their hands after bathing a dog in the kitchen sink.", or "All nursing kittens must be at least 1 meter away from prepared food, with the exception of the really cute one that keeps licking your spoon".
• I got sick at the end of my first week. Not sure what caused it. Don't think it was the food as Katie and I share most dishes. I vomited about 7 or 8 times every 15 minutes or so until I no longer had bile to give and my back was in pain. I took another day or so of watching bootlegged dvd's like "Patton" that were lying around to recover. A lot of people in the Cabañas came down with the same thing and Katie had something similar the following week although her reaction was bit less severe.
It's been pointed out that people leave Montañita and only talk about the bad experiences, which is probably true. I can say that there was plenty I did like. The school, for one, made me feel productive, was a good home base, and provided the opportunity to meet new friends. And even though I was constantly gagging on salt water and flailing about like a man on fire, I also enjoyed my first experience surfing. Isidro, my instructor, was more than patient and also somehow managed to make me simulate surfing on sand which he most likely laughs about with his friends in private. I'll also have fond memories of cocktail alley and the spontaneity of pulling up a plastic chair next to a tiny kiosk to consume enough rum to dance to reggaeton. I'll look back fondly at men announcing their morning catch being sold from the basket of their bicycles and the walks around the craggy rocks of the point.
-------------- B
No comments:
Post a Comment