Playa!

Rachel and I got back yesterday from the beach to cold and no electricity.  Why didn't I get an internship at the beach? It was wonderful, hot and sunny but with a wonderful breeze. Early Saturday morning Lupe, Javier, Laurel, Rachel, Karen, Liam and I went to the beach. The minute we left the mountains the weather became paradise. We went to a little beach town called Champi...something. I'll have to ask becuase the whole time I was there I kept calling it the wrong name. It was a tiny town with grass huts on the beach with restaurants.  There were people riding horses and selling whole coconuts on the beach, which was black sand.  I learned to eat whole shrimp, eyes, brain and all.  They're kind of like softshell crabs, but better. Liam and Rachel and I stayed after everyone left at four to get in more beach time, which was a great plan.  We got a nice little hotel with a tv (tv!!! I watched House in Spanish and understood virtually nothing but it was still exciting) and sat on the pier watching the sunset with a bunch of local surfers. I was pretty exited to be able to talk all afternoon in Spanish without looking like an idiot (I think).  After that we got dinner.  All the restaurants were people's houses with tables outside. You ordered food and they went in the kitchen to make it. I had a whole fried fish, which was delicious with salt and lime and homemade picante sauce. In the middle of dinner a huge windstorm came up and we had to move the table inside. We wanted to explore a little but ended up eating fruit in bed and going to sleep at like nine. Rachel and I woke up at five thirty and walked out on the pier with the fishermen to watch the sunrise, then took a nap in hammocks on the pier. The pier was huge and really tall, made of rusty iron and thick planks of wood stapled together, and every time a huge wave came in the whole thing groaned and shook.  The waves were big and powerful - I got tossed around more than I swam, but the water was so warm I couldn't resist paddling around.  Then we ate breakfast on the beach and took a bus back at nine to try to get back to go to Antigua with Laurel to see her off. First the bus went to Reu, where had to ride in the back of a little bike cart to the main terminal to catch the bus back to Xela. I read a book the whole time and Liam slept, but poor Rachel who was burned to a crisp got stuck in a seat with a woman and her two kids. Keep in mind this is a school bus seat, made for two at the most. Every time I looked up her shoulders were pinched into a space half their normal size and the woman's little girl was climbing all over her. I felt so so bad for her. Sunburns are the worst. Back in xela we took a minibus to Parque Central and the whole time were talking about getting in bed, watching a movie, taking hot showers, etc. But alas, the city had no electricity. So we napped for a few hours, snacked some, then went to bed. I slept like the dead. Now it's back to work.  The camera I bought to replace my nice one that broke when I got here is now dead as well. I really don't want to have to get a new one but I also don't want to travel at the end of this trip and not be able to take pictures of ruins, etc. Also, I have not yet seen disposable cameras here.

Now it's almost lunch time and I really want to go to the market to get rice with milk and a papusa, but it's raining. Papusas are the best thing in the world, kind of a corn pouch filled with cheese and topped with cabbage salad. The arroz con leche is kind of like tapioca, but a drink with cinnamon and sugar. Delicious. However, I shouldn't complain about the weather too much because even two days in the heat, though a welcome change, was too much for me. I got tired of sweating really quickly, especially because away from the water the breeze is negligible and the smells are overpowering. Thank you Xela for being comfortable, even if you are always wet. 

Friday I went to a Salsa competition, which was super super cool. It was like being at So You Think You Can Dance, except I could see how much work it is. The costumes were crazy - my camera already didn't work but when Rachel posts hers I will steal some and put them up. There were these two kids who couldnt have been more than thirteen, with braces and glitter hair gel, who were sooo good. I will never be able to move like that.