LA PLAYA: the Beach!

My friend Anouk and I went to the beach with two of our friends, Daniel, and Ricky, whose nickname is Colombia, because he is from there. We were able to stay in my friend Daniel's hotel, or hotel that his father is building which was really nice! Though it was kind of overcast the whole time, it was still very nice weather, we enjoyed yummy seafood and fresh fresh fruits and a new favorite food, patacones, or fried green bananas (platano verde).

Our hotel was in Tonsupa, which is a smaller beach town located west of Quito on the coast. There are a lot of towns on the coast, and we also visited Atacames, very touristy and larger than Tonsupa, and another small more remote beach called Mompiche, and finally, Casa Blanca. My favorite was Mompiche, it was not as crowded, and we were able to swim. The journey there was very long, and on a rough road, but very worth it.

In Tonsupa, where we spent most of our time, the beach is lined with bars full of tropical drinks. We tried some very delicious fruity beverages, and had some excellente Piña Coladas, of course with real coconut (coco) and pineapple (Piña). Other fruits that are popular are papaya, watermelon and of course bananas. Of course, there is a lot of seafood to choose from. Ceviche is a really popular dish in Ecuador and it is everywhere on the coast. Basically, it is marinated seafood, a mix of shrimp, fish, crab, etc, that can be marinated in a tomato sauce, or a salty broth. It is served cold, and apparently is the curve to any hangover ( "chuchagi" Chew-cha -gee). This was very good, and so fresh.

Basically, this was a really nice weekend to relax and enjoy friends and food. It was sad to head back to Quito on Sunday, as for me, it was really back to reality, after being in Argentina for 1 week and having the beach weekend.



There is a significant number of petroleum fields, or factories in and around the Coastal part of Ecuador. It was interesting to see these oil fields, and see the huge amount of smoke drifiting up into the air from the production. There are laws and restrictions in Ecuador to limit the amount of by-product, smoke,or exhaust that is produced from these oil fields, but they are rarely followed. My friend Daniel remarked, "They aren't followed because if you have the money, you have the power." It would be interesting to investiagte the politics of the petroleum industry here.
Also, there is not recycling in Ecuador, or practically none. I have yet to see a recycling bin in the university, in the mall, or on the street. In fact, garbage cans in general are lacking everywhere, so of course, litter is everywhere. When I am on the bus, people simply throw things out the window, or I'll be walking behind someone and they throw a wrapper on the ground. I was not expecting this when I came here, but it's intersting and troubling to see that reycling and littering is not a big concern, or something that most people accupy their mind with.