SPRING BREAK: PART II - The Return of MANTA!

Me Ecantaba Manta SOOOO much that I had to return to it once again!

But the trip to Manta officially begins at the bus station in Esmeraldas around 9pm, Thursday.

Esmeraldas: A little shady, to say the least

One word Ecuadorians have a hard time comprehending is the American use of "Ghetto", and its versatility. Ecuadorians who already know a lot of English, who are learning, or who simple hear "ghetto" in movies and rap songs, etc., don't understand exactly what it refers to because there is no Spanish equivalent. As you probably know, "Ghetto" has a racist reference that begins in WWII, if I'm not mistaken, that dealt with the Jewish neighborhoods and the negative connotation that Anglos associated with them.

But it's difficult to explain to Ecuadorians how loosely, non-racist, and differently we can throw this term around (also a bit of a politically correct thing, if you bowl down the PC lane). Here, it's most closely related to the word "cholo", which is a negative term for people from the country (similar to the U.S.'s "redneck"), and also applied to all things of lower quality and intelligence. Anyway, as we tried to explain to Sarah's host parents, we would refer to the actual city of Esmeraldas as "GHETTO" with caps.


It doesn't feel safe. It's generally dirty. You clutch your purse a little tighter, you walk a little faster, you "stay with the group" because every normal street resembles more of a sketchy ally. As far as being a "city" is concerned, nothing appears to be established. Lots of broken down buildings and cheap construction decorate the streets. Nobody's dressed up for work or appears to have much direction or purpose to where they are walking. Rather, it reminds me of a county fair or "Taste of" city event, in which the younger ladies of lower class bare their middrifs and the men sit on corners and steps to watch them pass. So far, this city best aligns with any stereotypes of so-called "third world countries" that you might have. Very little establishment, very little infrastructure, weak systems, and not many signs of growth. I would've taken a picture, but I was fearful for the wellbeing of my camera and...myself.

We were all a little "sketched-out" about having to wait at the Esmeraldas bus station. Last time our friend Sarah took a bus from Esmeraldas, her purse was robbed right off of her shoulder in broad daylight with her entire host family (including her fairly intimidating father) standing at her side.

In Ecuador, nobody does anything when there's a robbery. Hence, it's not uncommon for robberies and violent robberies to happen in broad daylight on the most populated streets or on a public bus. Within the first few weeks of staying in Quito, 5 out of 12 students from one of the other programs were robbed; and four out of the five were violent robberies (a.k.a. threatened with a knife or gun, or both). Luckily, my program was a little bit luckier. Nevertheless, I've had two of my phones robbed...well, this is another story in itself...which I will tell at some other point, haha...

So, we got to the bus station in Esmeraldas at night and dragged our bags as close to the ticket window as possible. We made it safely onto our bus after sitting in the equivalent of the Chicago Greyhound station (I've been there for hours as well - probably the worst experience of my life, no joke) for an hour. The Esmeraldans made us feel extra special by staring extra hard at us because Christine and I have extra blonde hair and extra white skin. That helped.

It made me a little more comfortable when there was a random police check of all the passengers on our bus on the way out of town. Thus began our rocky, 10-hour bus ride to Manta through the night. May I mention that we were all a little nervous because of the landslides and flooding that had caused one-too-many busses to crash in the preceding three weeks. Somehow, I managed to get a little bit of sleep.

Hello, Manta!

We arrived in Manta around 9am on Friday morning. My host uncle (Carlos's dad) was extremely hospitable and let us stay at his house once again.

This time was different, however, because Miriam, Said, Gabriel, and Said had also ventured to Manta for the weekend. No, I didn't accidently write "Said" twice. Said is not only my host father. There's now, Said, my 26-yr-old brother who had just returned permanently to Ecuador from the states, where he lived for 7 years. They were in Manta to visit Said's parents (my host-grandparents), who I got to meet for the first time. Carlos was also in Manta for his spring break, and a few other cousins were there as well because the majority of my host family grew up and still lives in Manta, and it was Easter weekend. That's Said on the left, Miriam, Gabe in the sunglasses, and Said my host dad on my right side. I'm the gringa in the middle :)

Thus, we went to the beach with my family, hung out at the grandparents' apartment, relaxed in my uncle's pool, ate ceviche, and then repeated this routine for the next three days.

Because it was Easter weekend and Semana Santa, there was a lot of activity on the beach and a lot of tourists from other parts of Ecuador visiting Manta. The beach was busy, windy, and hot, so the pool was a nice alternative. That's Christine (l.) and Sarah (r.) chillin with my host dad in the pool. They've basically become his other two host daughters.

OCTAPUS: CHECK!

On Saturday, we went to eat lunch at a restaurant across the street from the beach and I opted for the Ceviche de Pulpo rather than my usual Ceviche de Camaron. Cameron is usually a sure thing (shrimp), but I wanted to go off on a limb and try the pulpo (octapus), which was a good recommendation (thanks to the kid - yes, kid - who works there). The little tentacles freaked me out a little bit at first, but I trudged through the mental hesitation and let me tell you, it was vale la pena. A little tougher than other seafood I've had, and very good.

More Manta!

Other than pulpo and pools, the highlight of Manta was primos (cousins). This trip was pretty family-oriented, and we spent a lot of our free-time hanging out with my brothers and cousins, and their friends (some of Carlos's are pictured). I also got a chance to finally talk with my new brother, Said. My family just keeps getting bigger and bigger...

I like Manta a lot because it's really tranquil. It's a smaller city, not a large metropolis like Quito. It's like the difference between my private middle school of 250 students and my high school of 2500. Everyone knows each other in Manta. When my cousins drive around, they know tons of people on the street. The people of Manta are like a giant family that fell in love with the city and never moved away.

And did I mention how beautiful it is? I leave you with the sunset view from my uncle's roof:




Next stop: Montañita!!! (The best of all stops!)