UGHHHHHHHHH.... scuseeeee mee if this post makes little sense, but my brain and my body are currently recovering from spending a few days in Montanita, a beach town on the coast of Ecuador.... i've just woken up in after a 20 hour snoooze in the cute colonial city of Cuenca where they have plenty of parks, really pretty buildings with gorgeous balconies (my favorite) and colorful flowers strewn all around the city.. not a bad place to relax and recover thought TBH, i've only managed to crawl out of bed, throw on some shades, and sit in the dark cafe next to the hostel because light is currently not my friend (cus i look awful and cus it HURTS mineeee eyesss!!)
i still have major head fog from the past few days but... WORTH IT (though I've come to the conclusion i can no longer party like i used toooo... the last photo in the set is some major throwbackkk to collegee.. slapping the bag at Syracuse. ahh.. GLORY DAYS)
After spending a few days in Banos doing extremeeee thingsssss, Elizabeth and I took the night bus to Montanita.. we ended up taking the bus with a really nice Spanish girl, Helena, and a dreadful Aussie whose name i can't remember but who i wanted to punch in the face the whole time.. he kept running his mouth and telling me and Elizabeth that we looked like shit, which was pretty obvious since who the helll looks well rested after taking a night bus?!?! BUT ANYWAY.. we got to montanita around 8am and it was grey and rainy, which matched my foul mood since i was cranky from my lack of sleep.. and my injured toeeee which i stubbed pretty hard while trying to stop on the swing at the edge of the world in Banos.. (i know badassssss) i was limping around with my heavy bag and i convinced myself that my toe was broken so i was in a terriblee mood. .. anywhose we checked into Iguana Hostel and spent the rest of the day reading and napping
when we woke up, it was happy hour, so we obviously started drinkinggg (cus we're budget friendly)... this is how we spent most (all) of our nights between 7-12 before going out to dance and drink more at cocktail alley and dancing at some bars, Hola Ola and Cana Grill.. i (unfortunately??) didn't make it to the lost beach CLUUUUUUUUUBBBBB since i refuse to pay cover.. (i know i'm a #spoiledagencygirl but still.. i don't pay in NYC.. why would i do it abroad?? plus i prefer cheesy bars with live cover bands anyway!!) despite the massive amounts of reggaeton they played, it became pretty tolerable after a few (many) strongs drinks, which the guys behind the bar at the hostel were great at making...
in order to ease the pain and sorrow i felt over my toe and to convince myself REGGAETON is my favorite type of music... i drank wayyy too many delicioussssly (and deceptively strong) pina coladas.. which i would normally never drink since they're so damn sugary.. but these were fucking gooooooood... though eventually, after 3 days at the hostel, i had to stop drinking them because they started making me feel sick and bloated... plus i'd also wake up miserable some mornings since with a hangoverrrr cus of all that sugar. but that was okay cus i would drag my ass to the beach and lay out and snooze and tan for a bitttt... (no nude beaches.. SADLY!) this was of course, after having a big bowl of ceviche first thing in the AM since apparently, according to the locals, it's a good hangover curee.. and while i was initially skeptical cus consuming raw fish when you want to puke seems like a terrible idea.. its essentially the seaside/South American equivalent to pho (which is the besttt hangover food ever createeddd) since its a salty, soupy, protein filled meal... but without the carbs cus i'm LOW CARBING IN ECUADOR KIIDSSS.. gotta keep in shape.. circular shape, that iss...
but anyway i loved it. and i ate it. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
the ceviche guys knew me on a first name basis by the end of my stay.
Every one i hung out with was really coooolll (duh.. cus otherwise why would i hang out with them?!) i ended up sharing a room with this Argentinian named Francisco.. who apparently was a semi-famous guitar player.. he was a bit of a loon, but in a good way, and of course charming, suaveeee, and talented (duh!) cus they're all like that from Argentina..
there was also a very nice (and handsome) Spaniard named Pablo working at the hostel who just finished med school.. and since i am the biggest over exaggerator/drama queen, i was complaining about my toe and he took a look at it and told me i was fineeeee... but to coddle me a bit, he put some ointment on it and wrapped it up.. which made me feels loadss better (as a side note, what are the chances i meet two cute pablos studying medicine in less than a month.e) the whole injury came at an unfortunate time since i wanted to surf, but i didn't want to risk further injuring myself (got lots to look forward to) so i opted to keep both legs firmly planted on land... i was pretty disappointed though since there were a few nice and cute locals who offered to give me lessons for freeeeee. owell.. u win some, u lose someee..
ANYWAY, the next stop is the Galapagos.. and I CANNOT MOTHERFUCKING WAITTTT. plus, it'll be a good place to detox :)