home sweaty home

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, whisper words of wisdom, let it be, let it be....

I wake up to the sound of music our first morning in Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador and our new home for the next 5 weeks. The Beatles have never sounded so good.

Our host Clay is total surfer dude, complete with a stoner voice and laid back attitude. His wife Margarita and him have the cutest lil babe anyones ever seen named Sol, who is buck naked 80% of the time.

The Planet Drum house holds about 7 volunteers at a time, only 4 of which are filled including us in our first week. The other volunteer, Rebecka is from Sweden and may be the chillest person I have ever met. Based on her, I now know that along with great meatballs and massages, Sweden also has great people. Sadly, Rebecka has moved on in her journey around South America and has left the Planet Drum house, but not before teaching us some tricks of the trade, and having a great farewell send off party that may or may not have involved some wonderful brownies.

Now in my second week in Bahia, I can say I am falling only more in love with this city. It's a pretty small costal town and seems like everyone knows eachother as friends yell across the street to familiar faces.

I have to start reminding myself that just because the best pork sandwhich I've ever eaten only costs 50 cents, or the gooeist of burgers is only a dollar, doesnn't mean I have to buy and eat everything the nearest bike cart is offering.
I've never eaten so good as I've eaten here- both health-wise and taste-wise. I start every morning with a bowl of strawberry yogurt with granola and a freshly picked banana bought that morning from the market around the corner. The market is always bustling with locals and there's an array of every vegetable, fruit, and fish an Ecuadorian could imagine.
After our nutritious breakfast (and a big ole cup of much needed coffee), Orlando, the Planet Drum land manager, picks us up at 8:00 and we bus it out to the location of the day.
We sharpen our machetes (what? never thought i'd say that in a sentence detailing my day..) and start clearing the brush. A lot of trees were planted months ago and are grossly overgrown since the rainy season started.
One day last week I was lucky enough to find Ecuador's most poisonous snake (El "X") at my feet, and Suz has dug up two tarantualas in one afternoon.

The days we actually plant the trees (and not just prepare for them or protect them) are my favorites. Like last week when we went to the small community within Bahia where Orlando lives, Bella Vista. About a dozen children immediately crowded our truck, eager to help. They spent the rest of the day helping us put in the trees and pat down the dirt.
The sun is intense here, especially in the past few days as the rainy season comes to an end. I've never sweated so much in my life. But the workday ends around noon and we drag our tired, sweaty asses back to the Planet Drum house where we load up on veggies and rice and beans and anything else that is so readily available and so ridiculously cheap.
Anyone who knows me, knows I usually have minimal physical activity in my days, so I find myself absolutely ravenous. hah.

My goal each day is to try and find the PorkSandwhich Man. MY GOD. Uw and mangos, so many mangos. And avocados, oh my goodness...
Anyways, after a big lunch, I start to feel more like a human being again and make my way down about 5 blocks or so to the beach.
There lies the Pacific Ocean at a perfect cooling-down temperature for my overheated body to play with.
The waves are big and salty and force laughter from me. Then its time for me to attempt and shed my 'gringo-ness'. This is two-part in that I try and get my bronze on under that sunshine, while also browsing through my Spanish phrase book.
I usually become frustrated at the phrases it offers, such as "Is there a plumber in the area?" (Really?) -and instead try deciefering the Spanish of various under-aged boys licking their lips at us. Ew.

A local archeologist/surf instructor/ beach bum has possibly befriended me- all while trying to sell me surf lessons and his home-made necklaces of course. But he's friendly and full of energy and accepts my Tarzan Spanish, so he's cool by me.

What I fill my afternoons with, what I actually "do" each day , would be hard to say. It mostly just consists of trying to live as a Bahian, and not get too fried by the sun.
One thing I know is when that sun starts to set, we get a front-row seat for the Caida del Sol (fall of the sun)and drink our well-deserved Pilseners.