Tuesday, October 9 – Monday, October 15
Hello good friends, another warm welcome to this week’s blog. I hope you had as much fun celebrating the Independence of Guayaquil as I did. I am learning that the people of Ecuador love take advantage of any special event or anniversary by celebrating. Guayaquil is the largest city of Ecuador, and on the 9th of October it celebrated 183 years of independence. In fact, the whole country celebrated this occasion with a “feriado,” or national holiday, later in the week on Friday. Add a World Cup 2010 preliminary qualifying game with Venezuela and you have a weekend to remember. I did my part to celebrate, heading out to the coast with what seemed like the rest of the country. It was an experience that helped experience more of the beautiful diversity- and unfortunate realities- of the country.
The place of destination was Tonsupa, a small beach town located in the providence of Esmeraldas. The feel of the region was noticeably different from the mountainous Sierra region that I am accustomed to. Everything moved at a faster pace- even on the beach where things are normally more relaxed. Vendors would hassle you more here, restaurants would compete harder for your business, and taxi drivers with empty cars would stop to ask you if you needed a ride. Clearly, the allure of the beach and the holiday weekend contributed to this sense of urgency. Surprisingly enough, though, this was not a popular ‘gringo’ (the common word for white foreigner) destination. Usually a high level of activity indicates a large number of gringos, but in this case the tourist population was natives. All this may have contributed to an unusual tension that I felt throughout the weekend.
Despite the fast-paced environment, our group still found time to enjoy ourselves through many of the traditions that come with being at the beach. Fresh seafood and coconut drinks were everywhere you turned, and you could choose to take a nap or enjoy a beer in one of the countless hammocks lining the sand. Soccer and volleyball was also a popular activity for the natives, and I didn’t mind joining in. During the night, the beach cavanas, little huts stationed in the sand, pumped out the salsa and regatón music loud enough that the beats from neighboring cavanas were impossible to distinguish as people danced the night away. Best of all, very accommodating and warm ocean water welcomes you in to enjoy the waves crashing against your body.
However, that tension I was speaking about earlier unfortunately turned into a moment of fear and frustration on our second night. Two separate incidents of muggings in our group within a 7 hour span bring perspective to some harsh realities in a sometimes too-real paradise. I was present the second time when two young adolescents- one with a broken glass bottle and the other with part of a seatbelt- approached us as we were walking back to our apartment from the beach- about a 10 minute walk. Thankfully, no one was injured in our group, but it’s an experience that leaves lasting images in your mind and weakens your trust in fellow human beings.
The most interesting part of the experience, though, was observing the reactions of Ecuadorians to the muggings. This turns out to be such a common occurrence in the country that the response of people to my story was more of commonplace or even boredom rather that surprise or concern. When others in my group told their respective host-families, the reactions were similar. Some families even jokingly poked fun at my friends. A cultural difference indeed. Even more frustrating, though, was that the first- and maybe only- question that people would ask was if the robbers were ‘negros’ (blacks). Here the present- but often denied- racism of the blanco (white) and mestizo (indigenous and white mixed) shows its ugly head. The stereotype has roots in the fact that the providence of Esmeraldas has the highest concentration of negros in the country.
On a more positive note, I have solidified my internship site over the past week. I will be serving in Yunguilla, the community of 50 families I spoke of a few weeks ago. I honestly have no idea what my work will specifically consist of, but the important thing is that there are only 2 very small offices in the village with one computer (without internet). Therefore, it will be a work experience unlike any I have had, but most importantly, an experience in living outside of the fast-paced and information-cluttered world as I have known it. It should provide for some good stories to share with you all in the future!
Until that point, take care and enjoy every moment!
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