Bienvenidas a la Playa, Chicas!

Girls trip to the beach this past weekend! 25 of us teachers, student teachers, and friends of teachers rented a bus and rode for 6 hours down to Tonsupa Beach (near Esmeraldas). We got down there at about 10pm. The beaches aren't very safe at night so we had to stay at the hotel restaurant. In the morning we all got an early start. The beach was about three feet from the hotel gate. The weather was perfect! The sun was out but not blinding and it was warm without being sweltering. The water was warm with hardly any waves. I wanted to stay in all day but after about 45 minutes I saw a jellyfish and opted for the beach. After lunch a couple of us walked about 300 yards to town and got some souvenirs. We stayed in town until the sunset, ate dinner, and headed back to the hotel. There I met another American girl and her three Israeli friends. We played Taki, an Israeli version of Uno and then went swimming. I learned some Hebrew words, none of which I should ever really repeat. A hotel worker from Ukraine came and joined us. He only spoke Italian and Russian. I tried my Russian skills but ended up talking in Spanish. The next morning I sat around with some teachers and our new friends and ate mango popsicles. They were more like mango sorbet and 100% delicious. I slept the whole 6 hour bus ride back and woke up to a dark, cool, rainy Quito.