surf´s up!

maaaan, i got out of bed in a funky mood yesterday, feeling so much better today!

headed out of Canoa, on the way to Quito, stopped in Santo Domingo for the night.

Canoa was for the most part, really fantastic. I think my favorite part was meeting so many people. What a treat to be somewhere long enough that you have people to say hi to and stop and visit with walking down the street in the morning to go get some fruit.

The hostal I stayed at is called Coco Loco and it is across the sand street from the beach so we could hear the ocean at night while falling asleep which was lovely. It´s owned by a woman named Elizabeth who grew up in Oregon but owned a restaurant in Alaska and her boyfriend of many years, Mauricio (Mao) who is from Mexico and their son, Mini Mao. They were so welcoming and wonderful, it really felt like family straight away and created that atmosphere in the hostal so that you find yourself wandering around with people you just met and feeling like oldest friends. It was the first time I found that in Ecuador and in the hostals I´ve been staying at, so it was such a treat. This week kicked off high season so it was stilll pretty sleepy and everyone wasn´t tired of tourists yet.

We had a potluck barbeque last night with lobsters and prawn and fish and meat and chicken and salads and stuffed potatoes and homemade apple sauce and lots of other stuff to make a feast and we all had such a great time.

I´m feeling like while I don´t want to get stuck being a five year beach bum, it would be awfully nice to go and be a six week beach bum. And have something to do. Work in the hostal and do massage and maybe the bar and volunteer at the school and have a room to unpack my things. Just live somewhere for a while. And it would be really great there. So, I´m going to take the weekend to think it over, and attend the festivals of Quito and spend a little time with Phil and Ruby and visit with Elizabether more and probably head down there until it´s time for me to leave Ecuador.

I bought a camera off of a fellow traveler who decided to upgrade so hopefully I´ll have some more pictures up. Too bad that none of them are of Canoa because it is so beautiful there. Two paved roads in the whole town and no ATM. Just right.

Hope you all are having a great day as well. love.