Surf trip...

After a hard week of school (ha ha) we got a nice break this weekend and went on a surf trip up the coast with our new friends from school. The school´s surf instructor leads a trip every Saturday to a new wave. Yestereday we met at 7 AM and loaded up the van with people and boards on the roof (quite a sight) and headed about 40 mins up the coast to Las Tunas. It was still pooring rain from the night before which made for some fun driving events. The main road was fine and it was really fun to see some more of the country side .... so beauitful and green! When we pulled off the the main road to make our way to the beach it got exciting....our driver proceed to take a short cut thru the little town´s soccer field...we made it about 10 feet before getting stuck in the 4 inch mud. The guys hopped out and were able to get us out in less than 5 mins ... we proceeded on to the beach without anymore problems....pulled up to the most perfect sight .....glassy, A-frame waves about chest high and no one out! Needless to say we had a really fun surf.....one of those perfect days you dream about ....surfing fun waves hooting and cheering for your friends. The group was a mix of good surfers and beginners so we did a lot of cheering for the beginners. The rain did not let up the whole day .... there was a cute little restrant right on the beach that we had lunch at and hot coffee cause we were accually kind of cold! When it was time to head back our driver got the van stuck again ... this time in the sand! All the boys, in their flip flops worked for an hour to get the van out....it was quite entertaining for us 4 girls as we watched from the resterant cheering them on (and of course, offering advise). We are already looking forward to next Sat´s trip.

We have been meeting some really great people at the school. We all spend a lot of time together, as we all live in the cabina´s and are all here to learn spanish. We are finding that most people who come here to do the school stay for at least 3-5 weeks so we´ve been with everyone for over a week now and will be together for at least 2 more weeks before anyone leaves. I can already see that the good-byes will the one downer of our time here.

We are getting adjusted to the town and culture now after a week or so and are starting to sleep better at night (there is always noise ... music, animials, the random semi truck bumbling thru town and bus). Montanita is a huge party town here in Ecuador. It is a weekend destination for the city people who come to party. It was a bit over whelming at first but we are used to it now. We are really thankful that our cabina is outside of the party area and really mellow. It is fun to come into town for dinner and a drink (we even when dancing last night!) and then head back to our little oasses.
Sorry no pics .... forgot the camera on the surf trip! Next week...