sometimes i can't catch my breath, and it's not just the altitude

Wooo, time flies.

Going to the beach (Same, in Esmeraldas province, on the Northern coast) was by far the most relaxing thing I've done in years. I had literally nothing to do for two and a half days, and that itself was beautiful. And the Pacific Ocean! My first time ever in that particular body of water, and I think I'm a fan for life. Unlike the horribly cold, violent Northern Atlantic, the Pacific at that particular part of the Ecuadorian coast is wonderfully warm and gentle, with absolutely ideal waves for body surfing. I let the salt and sand accumulate in my hair all weekend, wanting somehow to take the ocean with me back to the dry Andes.

The place we stayed was a hilarious mix of impossibly gorgeous and run-down. Non-functional lights in our room, a pool without water, mosquito nets with gaping holes, but-- thatched roofs. Coconut trees. Sand. HAMMOCKS. Oh, the hammocks. I spent hours in a hammock by the ocean, reading, writing, and dreaming the day away. Glorious.

Also, classes at PUCE started Monday-- so far, so good. I'm particularly thrilled about Socioetnolingüística, which is every bit as esoteric as it sounds, as well as being fantastically namby-pamby in that an objective of the class is to seek the development of true interculturality, where various cultures are valued as integral and necessary parts of a collective national consciousness. Yes.

Tonight was the first meeting of the year of el club de andinísmo at PUCE. It's an outing club, but hardcore as all hell. I'm psyched. They have a super cool meeting room decorated with worn-out gear, Tibetan prayer flags, maps, and posters of mountains signed by famous mountaineers. And at the end of the meeting the leaders asked if anyone had any unrelated announcements, and one woman stood up to tell everyone about what sounded like a composting workshop next weekend. Clearly I have found my group of people.