so i have been doing a lot the past weekend so brace yourselves. on friday afternoon i finally met with my afs representative and they showed me how to take a bus to my work place. it was my first expirience on a public bus in guayaquil and it sure was uncomfortable. ecuadorians apperently have no legs, that or they just arent into leg room because i cant fit in the seats, i have to stand. the roofs are very small so you can imagine its a little clostrophobic. my workplace is kind of out there way out on the south edge (i live in the north) in the outskirts of town. i met with some directors there but unfortunately they didnt tell me exactly what i would be doing when i will work there. after this little excursion i met up with my friend from austrailia jack who actually lives pretty close to me. we hung out at his house for a while and ate a really good barbeque. after that pepe and i went out on the town. we ended up meeting one of pepes friends who lives in the canarie islands (spain) but she is visiting for a little while. we went out on this hill that overlooks the city of guayaquil and had beers at this one bar that had a great view of river. it was a very beautiful night. the next day pepe, his friends and i planned to go to the beach for the weekend. we where planning to go at about two in the afternoon. i spent the morning running errands with pepe and getting the necessary supplies for the beach. finally at about four thirty we got to the bus station-which is quite a spectacle having three stories and shopping mall in it-and we got on the bus for the hour long trip. this bus was pretty comfortable and we got to see some very interesting tropical scenery along the way. once we got to the town of playas (which litterally means beaches) it was like entering another world. there were fish markets, sand was everywhere and a very low key vibe was easy to get into. the eight of us all hoped in the back of a pickuptruck and drove to pepes auntes house. we got there just in time to see a beautiful pacific sunset. at pepes aunts house we decided to camp (pepes friends had all the gear) at the end of her property which was just on the beach. we set up a nice camp and a nice fire and enjoyed ourselves for the rest of the night. one of pepes friends melissa went to american school and so she speaks fluent english. once we started a conversation a few others wanted to use their english skills and we all talked well into the early morning. saturday night was also very beautiful, i fell asleep watching for shooting stars in an open sky. the next morning we all did what probably the rest of you guys did sunday morning and jumped into the very warm pacific ocean. after our swim we had to pack up camp because it started raining very hard on us. we moved our stuff onto pepes aunts porch and went into town for some breakfast. everyone ate plates of seafood, i had a kind of ecuadorian paella, it was delicious. after breakfast the others either went back to guayaquil or went to the beach. i on the other hand took a nap in a hammock that had a very nice view of the beach. at about three in the afternoon we got our things together and headed into town. in town we stopped to get some cerviche (a seafood cocktail) and then headed to the bus. when we arrived at the bus stop the street that the busses were supposed to arrive on was clossed and there was a horde of people just standing in the middle of the steet. i thought there was another overthrough of the government but then i realized that all these people wanted was to get on the bus back to guayaquil. we were very much out of luck because we had not purchused tickets and it didnt look likely that we would get back to guayaquil on a bus. we headed for the edge of town and tried to bum a ride from all the rest of the cars leaving. the reason leaving playas on a sunday afternoon is so popular is because it is an ecuadorian tradition to go to the beach during carnival (which was last week) and everyone wanted to return home. finally a not so full (but still full) bus pulled over to the side of the road to let us on. there werent any seats left on the bus so the five of us pilled into the front cabin with the driver. it was packed and it was a real expirience. then just as we were leaving the city limits the cops pulled our bus over (i think because its illegal to have a bus that full). the driver bribed the police with $25 and we were again on our way. with so much traffic back into the big city it took us twice as long to get there. finally pepe and i got home and i was exhausted. the next day (monday) was supposed to be my first day of work. i got on the bus with one of my coworkers and i got to talk with him about what was expected juconi (my job). o yeah i will be working with street children and their families here in guayaquil, thats all i know right now. work only lasted two hours because they explained to us what we will be doing and other basics of the job. we start really working on wednesday. ill keep you posted on what hapens. well i can tell you that this past weekend has been one of the highlights of the trip so far and next week we might go to another perfect white sand beach. ciao
-mark