CARNAVAL!!!

I got back from the coast/Carnaval on Wednesday night but I really needed a couple of days to recover before posting about the trip, haha!

Stewart, Shanti, and I left on Friday night just hoping to reach the coast within 24 hours. Normally it's only a 6-7 hours trip to where we were going but massive rains had caused numerous landslides on virtually every road out of Quito. There were reports on the news about people getting stuck on the road for 15+ hours. We thought about canceling the trip but we figured it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be on the coast in Ecuador during Carnaval.
Luckily we made it in only 6 hours because they cleared the roads just in time. We stayed in Sua, a town an hour south of Esmeraldas in a nice hotel overlooking the beach and bay below. As soon as we got there, people dumped a bucket of water on us, which became the first time of mannnnnnnnnny times during our trip. The tradition during Carnaval in Ecuador is to soak people with either water or foam (they sell foam spray canisters everywhere) anytime, anywhere. People throw buckets of water through open windows of passing buses, on people walking down on the street from balconies, and even in bars. By the second day, we decided to buy a supersoaker and cans of foam spray in order to better arm ourselves because we were getting killed (we were the only gringas in town). One of the best things we did was all pile into a tricyclo (like a moto with a little carriage attached to it) and drive around soaking people on the street.

At night, everyone goes into Atacames, a small city about 10 minutes north of where we were staying. The beachfront there is lined with outdoor bars that are all packed together in a row, each one blasting the same salsa or reggaeton hits.
During the day, we had a really good time on the beach, playing soccer, swimming in the ocean, and boogie boarding. I miss the coast! Hopefully I'll be able to end up living near the ocean when I'm older.

On the way home I spent the night in Esmeraldas in order to do more surveying with Colombians. The day I got there I got absolutely DRENCHED by every single person in the street. Seeing a gringa in Esmeraldas city is very rare and they all took full advantage of it. Two guys chased me down the street with giant buckets and after they got me, about 6 guys ran out of a building and each threw a can of water on me. The entire block was dying laughing at me! By the end, it looked like I had jumped in a pool. The next morning I got some surveying done, but there weren't very many Colombians in the office that morning unfortunately.

In all, Carnaval was AMAZING and definitely an experience to remember. The next two weeks I really have to buckle down and finish the data collection of my research before my parents come to visit.

PS I will post pictures from the trip in the next week...