All of June has been absolutely freezing. I realize that I live in the mountains, but my GOD I should not be freezing on the equator!! I don't mean freezing in the sense that it's usually 90 degrees, and now it's dropped down to 80. I mean freezing as in I see my breath ALL DAY LONG (not just in the mornings), and I wear a hat and scarf. Seriously? This is ridiculous. And of course, heating doesn't exist in this country, so I've started sleeping with a hooded sweatshirt on.
The school is all outdoors (the hallways and things), so the school is NEVER warm either. It's horrible. What makes it even worse is the other teachers. They're always telling me, "Sara, the weather isn't usually like this! It's usually very sunny at this time of year." Great. I've come at the most inconvenient time. I'm considering purchasing a space heater and putting it under my desk - either that, or a snuggie (Peter was telling me that the women at his office do this - thank you Breakthrough Fuel).
To warm up, Kristin, Marty, and I decided to go to the beach for the weekend. It was warm there. Very MUGGY and very BUGGY. But guess what - there was not a shred of sunlight the entire weekend. What is WRONG with this country?! I flew both ways (I would rather pay a little more to take a 30 minute flight than pay a little less and sit on a bus for nearly TEN hours), so that was really great. I couldn't take the bus with Marty and Kristin because they left on Thursday, and I still had to teach on Friday.
When I got on my plane to go to Manta (the beach), I found that I was seated in an Emergency Exit row. I've sat in an Emergency Exit row only once before, but I told the flight attendant that I could handle it. I only really told her because (A) it was only a half hour flight, so what could REALLY go wrong, and (B) there was a strapping lad sitting next to me that I figured would take charge.
As the flight attendant was giving us a mini-rundown in English (the strapping lad spoke English very eloquently), she was explaining how to lift the latch and push the door, blah blah blah, and her final statement was: "In case of an emergency, you will be the last ones out of the plane." Excuse me? I just kind of stared at her waiting for her to say, "HA! JUST KIDDING!!", but she walked away. So here I am, sitting by the window thinking several things.
- I'm by the window, and I have to be the LAST one out?
- Isn't it in the flight attendants' job description to make sure everyone is safely out of the flaming, plummeting aircraft?
- I should have watched Lost before I got onto this plane to review the protocol on how to survive a plane crash.
- Shoot. Are we flying over water or land?
- HOW am I supposed to be the last one out of this plane when I'm SURE that there will be a STAMPEDE towards the Emergency Exit row when smoke starts coming out of the engines.
The man next to me seemed to sense my confusion. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry. If this plane is going down, you and I will be the FIRST ones out of this window." Well thank GOD. Do you know what the irony of the situation is? The SAME THING happened to me the last time I was in an Emergency Exit row. I've made the executive decision that the next time I'm in this blasted row, I will say that I'm not comfortable being a hero and having to leave the plane last. Please move me.
When I landed safely in Manta, I met Kristin and Marty at the hotel. We went out for dinner and then went out to a few bars (it wasn't really a happening place), and headed to bed around midnight. Fine with me! I was REALLY drowsy and groggy from the Dramamine that I had to take for my plane ride. I fell asleep before the lights were off.
On Saturday, we woke up to a muggy, humid day that was overcast. We went to the beach anyways. One thing that KILLS me down here is the street vendors. I was wearing sunglasses. Despite this fact, the street vendors that had sunglasses kept coming up to me and shoving their sunglasses in my face. No, thanks, I'm WEARING some. And then, if you want to look at something, the street vendors come right up next to you and say, "Beautiful bracelets and necklaces" or whatever you're looking at, and then try to put the stuff on you. You know what? DON'T TOUCH ME.
And then, there was the hat man. We were eating at a restaurant on the beach, and this man comes up with sun hats. I don't usually wear sun hats because I have a fat head, but also because I look like an idiot in them. But these were pretty, and I could feel the part of my hair already getting burned. So I asked him how much it cost. Fifteen dollars? I don't think so. How about three? The guys says NO WAY and walks away.
ALL DAY LONG I kept seeing this hat man, and every time I saw him, I would hold up three fingers, and he would shake his head and keep walking. Kristin and I were sitting on the beach, and I saw him again, and he had reduced his price to ten. So, I waved him over. I told him five. He said ten. I told him six. He said ten. I told him seven. He said ten. I told him eight, and finally he said something else: "I buy these hand-made hats for eight dollars. If I sell it to you for eight dollars, then how am I going to buy my clothes? Buy my food? Feed my children?" And this man looked SO sad, that I put my head down and said, "NINE dollars". And I bought that damn hat. And I wore it ALL weekend. My nine dollar hat.
On Sunday, it was misting, so we decided to go to a different beach to eat lunch. The food was good, and the place was cute. Until. I. saw. a. RAT. It was about ten feet from where I was sitting, and I was FLIPPING out. REALLY ECUADOR??? RATS at a restaurant. This whole country should be shut down. It was disgusting.
During our time at the beach, another street vendor that kept on coming back was selling DVDs for a dollar. We asked if they were in English. He assured us they were. We bought: The Prince of Persia, Sex and the City 2, Toy Story 3, and Public Enemies. Public Enemies was the only one in English. GREAT. We discovered this on Sunday afternoon when it was raining, and our flight back wasn't until 8:15PM. So we watched HBO in English. What a let-down.
The flight back didn't leave until 45 minutes after the designated departure time. So we waited 45 minutes for a 30 minute flight. Cool. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend (besides the heart attack I had after seeing the rat), and at least I didn't get sunburned!!
This week school has been SLOW and BORING. I don't understand why the administration makes us come in on these nothing days. The students who didn't pass the year have supplementary review and then exams. I have three 1.5 hour classes with TWO kids. I feel bad for them, because they really do know their stuff, but they were just LAZY during the school year. So I've been spending my days reading, sending massive amounts of emails, on Facebook, on cnn.com, on perezhilton.com, and on people.com. If you need to know any trash on celebrities, please, email me.
This weekend I'm taking another trip with Kristin and Maike (the girl who cried with me in Baños). We're going to a city called Cuenca, and I'm excited about it! We're taking a bus there on Thursday night (I'm taking Friday off, because I'm soooooo busy) that will take TEN to TWELVE hours - please kill me. And then I'm flying back on Sunday night instead of taking a bus because I need to teach on Monday morning. It should be a good time!
Until next time,
Sara the Sucker - but looking oh, so stylish in my nine dollar hat.
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