Carnaval in Tonsupa!

Here's a picture I took from one of my friends who managed to snap a few.

This past weekend (well it was really Thursday through Tuesday for me) was Carnaval and a group of my friends and I took a trip to a coastal town called Tonsupa to enjoy the time off and soak up the sun.

We left Thursday night from Quito and arrived in Tonsupa at 6:00am on Friday-I didn't sleep much, but it was a good set up because we didn't have to pay for a room Thursday night and had the entire day on Friday to check out the area. Friday was by far the calmest day of the trip, most people that head to the beach for Carnaval don't leave until Saturday or Sunday because everyone has Monday and Tuesday off of work. It was a good day to explore, we also took a bus to the neighboring town Atacames where we bought some groceries for our stay. We stayed at a small house that belongs to one of my friend's host family. It was pretty rustic-outdoor shower and no running water inside-but it fit the bill. We were able to figure out how to cook and wash the dishes which helped us save money, and we only payed $7/night, which during Carnaval is pretty cheap (usually you can't stay anywhere on the beach for less the $15 during Carnaval).

That night we headed back to the beach where the bars have outdoor parties every night. There is probably nothing better than drinking Capirinas and dancing in the sand. At the end of the night, we made our first rookie mistake in Tonsupa. A group of my friends and I got burgers from a street vendor (which a lot of Ecuadorians were eating at too) only to find out later that we most likely were not served beef but some other kind of mystery meat...donkey? dog? Oops. Luckily I didn't get sick.

We also found out that night that four other girls from our program who were also staying in Tonsupa were robbed earlier that evening. Apparently they were walking down the beach at 6:30 taking pictures of the sunset when three men approached them and took their purses. They lost cameras, phones, money, credit cards, keys, iPods, it was awful. That was when I decided not to take any chances and didn't bring my camera with me to the beach. So-sorry for the lack of photos, but I'll put some other ones up soon.

Aside from those two negative notes, the rest of the stay was amazing, here are some of the highlights.

-Finding an amazing ice cream shop in town-best pistachio ice cream I have ever had, and very appropriate for the weather. It was very hot and very humid everyday.
-Getting shrimp ceviche on the beach for breakfast one morning, it was delicious and actually a good thing to start the day with, especially if you're chuchaqui.
-Getting sprayed with water and silly string while walking around town, it was Carnaval after all, basically one long water fight.
-Swimming in the WARM water of the Pacific, even at night, the water was the perfect temperature.
-Cooking home made mac-and-cheese with the five girls I stayed with, Becky, Erin, Sarah, Maddie and Liz.
-Finding a lizard behind the toilet, and watching them scurry around on the porch at night.
-Taking the 'taxis' which were motorcycles that pushed covered carts around the towns. Even though motorcycles were never meant to transport six people at one time.
-Soaking up the sun, until we all got burned, the sun is crazy strong on the Equator!
-Buying five days worth of groceries for six people for $40!! Everything is so cheap here : )
-Figuring out that we had to manually fill up the toilet tank with water that was sitting in a bucket in the bathroom for the toilet to flush. I guess I can live without running water.
-Learning how to barter with the taxi drivers. We're all becoming so cheap that coming back to the high prices in the US is going to be quite a shock.
-Spending time outside on the beach with my great friends. We all had a great time!