Let´s just say that there is no comparison in the US to Carnaval here in South America. Never ever would American people tolerate, nevertheless enjoy, getting water balloons, buckets of water, eggs, powder and other various amunition chucked at them by total strangers for 4 days.
For Carnaval me, Josh and a bunch of our friends from our program headed to a beach town called Canoa. Distance wise, it´s probably only as far away as Spokane, but the bus ride took 21 hours! You can imagine what state of Madeline I was in by that time...long story short, a ton of rain here washed out highways to the coast so we had to travel all the way south thru the center of the country and then back up north along the coast. Buses here are not efficient and the drivers aren´t really too worried about getting you there as quickly as possible. If they get hungry, they will stop and pick up some food or have a smoke. I have learned here that patience is more than a virtue, it is a means of survival!
We arrived in time for a beautiful sunset which only tempered my inner rage a tad bit. We settled into our hostel, full of ¨character,¨ including a bar next door that played music at top volume until 3 or 4am every night that pounded into our room thru the bamboo slat walls. I spent the days laying on the beach, surfing, or getting rocked by waves more in my case, people watching and reading. After the first day I was FRIED despite reapplying sunscreen probably every hour. The sun is killer here! Thankfully, the beach was lined with little tents you can rent for $1 a day, so I gladly coughed up my coin and hid out. At night, there was the Reina (Queen) de Carnaval contest during which a bunch of ladies were put through rigorous amounts of dancing and included a token white blond girl who apparently immigrated to the Ecuadorian beach life from the US.
All in all, it was a blast, 99% worth the horrid bus ride there in my opinion. And the flight home was worth every cent!
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