First full day in Ecuador, was a busy one :P

Ok first tip, use a mosquito net if there's one available. It was a good idea having the mosquito net, pffff. I woke up and then the alarm clock rang. I was a bit tired, but couldn't go back to sleep since it was so loud. The hostel wasn't close to the party area of town, but was close to the highway which was worse. I was listening to the trucks, buses and people talking. Well, if I had any doubts about moving, they were gone. So I took a quick shower and started to pack. OMG! I looked outside and it was a bit cloudy, hopefully it would get sunnier late by the time I'd be ready to go to the beach. Remember: getting tan was one of my goals ;)

I left the hostel - without my bags - in order to go and look for another place to stay. I still had some faith about the one Jim recommended me, but according to a man I met while I was walking around it was located about 1km away, which wasn't much, unless you were a small girl attached to a big backpack, hahaha. Anyway I had another recommendation. I found that 2nd hostel, which looked nice, but nobody was at the reception. So I left. Checked another one on the party st, but it might be loud at night.

Well, while I was walking around I saw a nice hostel in a corner, in front of the beach too. It has charming and colorful hunging chairs at the porch. Ok, let's ask for availability and rates. The girl told me there was just one room available. Perfect! I was one too, hahaha. It had private bathroom, hot water, cable, sweet. Went upstairs to check it and despite it was more expensive than the former one, I took it! The US$3 I saved last night would be used for this new hostel. So, I was still in my budget :)

Now, it was time to go for my stuff, but before it, it would be a good idea having breakfast but where? There some kiosks offering "batidos" aka juices and they looked very yummy. So, I decided to have one. I got one of passion fruit, raspberry and pineapple. So refreshing! It was sunny now! The girl there asked me where I was from. I told her to guess and she said: "Lima!" Wow! Do I have "Lima" written on my forehead? According to her it was easy to guess it because of my accent and also because how much I talk! hahaha.

After the refreshing stop I went for my stuff, did the check out and left. So bad I missed the gang, buuuuu. We might meet again around this big city, hahaha. Thank God the new hostel was just 4-5 blocks away, the challenge was climbing the stairs, pffff, but I succeeded, yay! After leaving my stuff, it was time to go to the beach.

Found a nice spot and started with one of my missions: sunbathing. It was a lazy morning, just reading, listening to music and chilling out. Then I saw 4 familiar faces, my 4 knights! Darren approached and we started to chat. They just got up after being partying until 4am, hahaha. They would go to grab a bite and I'd stay on the beach so we might see around later. I went back to my book and didn't notice I was so concentrated that started to laugh. A guy who was close gave me a look like saying: "What's so funny, crazy girl?" hahaha.

A bit later Jens arrived, the other 3 guys went for a run and he wanted to check the waves. We were chatting in German and the owner of the 1st hostel showed up. He asked me why I moved and I told him about the noise. Oh well... Jens was supposed to wake up early and go surfing, but since he got up late, he missed it. He was a bit sad but the owner noticed it and lent him his board, how nice! Since Jens wouldn't be alone, I decided to go for lunch. My skin had enough sun - well for that day :P

I arrived to the hostel, took a shower and started to write and watched TV. By the time I was ready to go, it was 3 o'clock. I wasn't sure where to go, but had a list with a couple of places I'd like to check. Anyway, I stopped first at a minimarket. The lady there was really friendly and loved the fact of chatting with a foreigner, hahaha. She even asked me to come back just to chat, how sweet! Well, I remembered that the "Hola Ola" was part of my list of recommendations. The place was busy, but got a table inside and the atmosphere was great. I ordered a salad, which was huge! While I was waiting for my food, I was updating my journal. I got run out of ink, so the guy from the bar had to lend me his pen, hehe.

After a delicious and huge meal, I was ready to go. But first of all stoping at my friend's minimarket to get a new pen. Then I started to walk around the town, but other direction, not just the party area. The town has a small square, church and is so quiet. Took a couple of pics and was ready. Next stop was an internet cafe to check my virtual life and finally went back to my hostel sat down on the hammock chairs and wrote a bit more. I was almost leaving, when I got a call from Shawn, telling me he was already in Manta and would give me a call next morning when he started his way to Montanita, yay!

I wasn't hungry, but decided to go out for a bite. Was thinking about a fruit salad, but that was just for the day time couldn't find it now, mmm. Before going anywhere, I thought it might be better to visit the gang. The guys were hanging out at the common area. I started to chat with Darren. He and her other friend would go to Colombia after Ecuador and stay there 2-3 months. So, if I'd decided to go there, they would be able to help me, awesome! Got his contact info, so we'd be in touch. He was also thinking about visiting same places as me in Ecuador. They were tired and didn't think about going out that night, which worked for me, hehe. I just wanted to say hi and good bye, just in case I might not be able to see them next morning.

Well, now I was hungry. Mmmm, there was a restaurant with a nice menu but was crowded, so I decided to keep on walking and found the guy with corn, hahaha. He recognized me and remembered I told last night that it was my first time eating the corn that way. "So, you like the corn this way" were his words, hahaha. "Yes, I love it!" Got it and kept on walking and got a nice juice again, hehe. Was just watching people and took a small walk through the busy part of town. Then I went back to the hostel. I wasn't timed but wanted to wake up early next morning and enjoy Montanita and sunbathing as much as possible before leaving.

When I arrived minigunther was already sleeping, so I was as quiet as possible :)