April 15, 2008
I am really enjoying my new Spanish teacher. We have a lot in common and spend a lot of time talking instead of doing actual lessons. It is still good because it is helping my comprehension but I am not learning as many verbs as Steve is.
After class today we had our fishing trip with Winston Churchill and his gang. It was him, an amigo of his piloting the boat and three of his kids. The boat was a lot smaller than the one we took to Isla de la Plata but still held the crew, the four of us and a young couple from New Zealand.
We started off snorkeling and did not see much. We then went out of the bay to fish and did not catch much at all. I began to worry that it was going to be a disappointing trip. They moved the boat again and I hooked something so large that it broke the line. I think it was a shark. They moved the boat one more time and we had success there. We caught several blowfish. The boat pilot knew how to stoke their stomachs so that they blew up really big. They make a noise like a pig and have a goofy mouth that looked like buck teeth. The blowfish that were big were kept to make cerviche. It is a popular dish here make with raw fish, lime juice, onions, and some other stuff. Winston and his amigo made it right there on the boat. In fact, I saw them mixing up the marinade for the fish in the same bucket they used to clean the water out of the bottom of the boat. No joke. The New Zealanders noticed it too. Thank goodness Tate and Cora did not. Turns out cerviche is very good and we all loved it and ate it because we were in Ecuador and we were on a boat with a man named Winston Churchill and sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
Before heading back to Puerto Lopez we took one last swim on a beach that had salt and pepper sand. The sun was going down and it was very calm and tranquil. All was well with the world until I started to swim back to the boat and felt stinging on my arms. It kept happening over and over again. Jellyfish was my first thought. I swam back to the beach quickly and told Steve to get Cora out of the water. Tate was already on the boat. My arms really stung but I knew we had to get back to the boat. Steve offered to pee on my arms (the reported antidote) but I just wanted Cora out of the water. As they were swimming in she got stung too so just quit swimming and held her arms out of the water. We were trying to hold her up and swim in. Winston finally realized what was going on and jumped in to grab Cora. It was a scary moment, but turned out fine. We were stung by tiny little organisms that are, I’m sure, related to jellyfish but not actual jellyfish. Once we got in the boat we could see them floating in the water. Our arms stung for about 10 minutes but have not bothered us since.
After dinner that kids had a scheduled soccer game on the beach. Last night they met some kids and played soccer with them while Steve and I checked e-mail at the internet café across the road. They had such a good time that they all wanted to do it again so we set the same time for tonight. When we got there our kids ran straight to the beach but the other boys were in their house. Junior and Michael (about age 5) came out and said “Donde es Tate and Cora?” We pointed them out and they took off running. There are 3 other boys too. Renaldo is about 10 and so is another one I don’t know the name of and there is a boy about 8 too. Anyway, they played for about 45 minutes tonight. I brought my camera and took pictures of them and they loved it. When we had to go they sat on the wall and took turns yelling our names as loud as they could as we walked the 3 blocks back to our cabanas. We have another game tomorrow night.
I am really enjoying my new Spanish teacher. We have a lot in common and spend a lot of time talking instead of doing actual lessons. It is still good because it is helping my comprehension but I am not learning as many verbs as Steve is.
After class today we had our fishing trip with Winston Churchill and his gang. It was him, an amigo of his piloting the boat and three of his kids. The boat was a lot smaller than the one we took to Isla de la Plata but still held the crew, the four of us and a young couple from New Zealand.
We started off snorkeling and did not see much. We then went out of the bay to fish and did not catch much at all. I began to worry that it was going to be a disappointing trip. They moved the boat again and I hooked something so large that it broke the line. I think it was a shark. They moved the boat one more time and we had success there. We caught several blowfish. The boat pilot knew how to stoke their stomachs so that they blew up really big. They make a noise like a pig and have a goofy mouth that looked like buck teeth. The blowfish that were big were kept to make cerviche. It is a popular dish here make with raw fish, lime juice, onions, and some other stuff. Winston and his amigo made it right there on the boat. In fact, I saw them mixing up the marinade for the fish in the same bucket they used to clean the water out of the bottom of the boat. No joke. The New Zealanders noticed it too. Thank goodness Tate and Cora did not. Turns out cerviche is very good and we all loved it and ate it because we were in Ecuador and we were on a boat with a man named Winston Churchill and sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
Before heading back to Puerto Lopez we took one last swim on a beach that had salt and pepper sand. The sun was going down and it was very calm and tranquil. All was well with the world until I started to swim back to the boat and felt stinging on my arms. It kept happening over and over again. Jellyfish was my first thought. I swam back to the beach quickly and told Steve to get Cora out of the water. Tate was already on the boat. My arms really stung but I knew we had to get back to the boat. Steve offered to pee on my arms (the reported antidote) but I just wanted Cora out of the water. As they were swimming in she got stung too so just quit swimming and held her arms out of the water. We were trying to hold her up and swim in. Winston finally realized what was going on and jumped in to grab Cora. It was a scary moment, but turned out fine. We were stung by tiny little organisms that are, I’m sure, related to jellyfish but not actual jellyfish. Once we got in the boat we could see them floating in the water. Our arms stung for about 10 minutes but have not bothered us since.
After dinner that kids had a scheduled soccer game on the beach. Last night they met some kids and played soccer with them while Steve and I checked e-mail at the internet café across the road. They had such a good time that they all wanted to do it again so we set the same time for tonight. When we got there our kids ran straight to the beach but the other boys were in their house. Junior and Michael (about age 5) came out and said “Donde es Tate and Cora?” We pointed them out and they took off running. There are 3 other boys too. Renaldo is about 10 and so is another one I don’t know the name of and there is a boy about 8 too. Anyway, they played for about 45 minutes tonight. I brought my camera and took pictures of them and they loved it. When we had to go they sat on the wall and took turns yelling our names as loud as they could as we walked the 3 blocks back to our cabanas. We have another game tomorrow night.
Comments
Looks like more rain this evening and into Friday but the weekend is shaping up nicely. Grass is green, tress and flowers are blooming. Cora, how is the teenager Spanish coming along? What is the Spanish word for
"whatever?" Sorry. Tate, hope you have enjoyed all the unique experiences, we will need to discuss over dinner when you are home. Sure looking forward to seeing you guys. Take care, be safe.
The blow fish sound neat. I wish you could have seen that big fish that broke your line!
Take care! Love G