Monday, July 12, 2010

Sunday we woke up and ate breakfast bars from home. We then headed for the beach. The stretch of beach nearest to us is awesome for surfing but not so safe for swimming. We laid out our towels and I took out my kindle to try to finish off Under the Dome, by Steven King. After reading for a bit I walked down to the water. I turned around quickly when i heard angela squeal. I large, unexpected wave had washed up onto our spot.... our towels, backpacks, everything was drenched. Fortunately I had purchased a water proof cover for my kindle and it was safe and dry. My camera was in the bottom of The World's Greatest Backpack so it wasn't harmed either. ( for those of you who haven't met this backpack, i purchased it before our trip to Australia and it is now a close member of our family). Everything else was covered in water and sand. Because the surf at Playa Zicatella is so intense, much sand mixes in with the waves that break on the shore. 30 hours later my only beach towel is still damp and somewhat sandy. Our apartment offers laundry service, but I have seen Elario, the gardener washing clothes in an outdoor sink by hand. I don't mind washing MY OWN clothes in this manner, in order to experience teh culture more fully, but I can't imagine giving the gardener my panties and asking him to get scrubbing ! Maybe they actually take the guest clothes to a laundromat? I will keep you all updated on that situation. After we cleaned up from the beach we took a Collectivo into town. This was a cool experience. A truck with a blue canvas covering over the back pulls over when you wave him down. You either tell him where you want to go or you can just push a button when you see your stop. It's like a bus but you are just riding in the back of some guys truck. Awesome! We took the Collectivo to the Super Che, where we bought groceries. We also had lunch in this area. The people in the restaurant didn't speak English. I think I ordered some kind of chicken but it looked like hammered out chicken fried steak. Either way it was very good. The people we meet don't tend to speak much English but they are very patient and friendly with us as we try to communicate with them. Last night we cooked dinner in the apartment and played skipbo on the patio. Several small lizards scurried around our walls while we were playing.
This morning, Angela and I participated in a yoga class here at the Casamar. The classes are free to guests. Our yoga instructor, Pilar, was sweet and knowledgeable. The class was 90 minutes long and it was wonderful to do yoga under the palapas with a view of the ocean. There were 3 men and one other woman who joined us. After yoga we hiked down the beach (about 50 minutes)to our first language class. I wore shorts and a bikini top for the walk then pulled a dress over those for the classes. Angela and I were put in a beginner class with two other students: Ben from new Zealand and Peter from Baltimore. Our teacher, Irene', was very nice and the class was relaxed and fun. It was an outdoor class, under a Palapas, with a nice breeze and view of the ocean. After class, we walked down to the beach where we ate our picnic lunch and strolled along the waters edge. We are now back at Casamar. We have an orientation tour, arranged through our language school in 45 minutes. I am pleasantly tired as i sit and listen to the regularly scheduled afternoon thunderstorm.

1 comment:

  1. Love it! Keep writing, I feel like I'm there. Hope your stuff dries out soon.

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