145 exchange students, 16 countries, and a week on the beach

The hotel rooms and courtyard

talent show

 I thought I had the best and nothing could top the trip to Mompiche, wellll………..I was wrong. This trip to Crucita, Manabí was amazing. What made it better was that all the exchange students from all of Ecuador were there, 145 to be exact. And like I keep mentioning all exchange students are so fun and just love life so all that energy around was incredible. So another 9 hour bus ride and we arrived at our hotel which just so happened to be right across from the beach, so that was awesome. 

The excitement of arriving

Everyone was so excited to meet all the people they hadn’t met yet, everyone had a grin from ear to ear. We got there in the afternoon so we just hung around from the night and got to know everyone. The next day we went to a beach that was down the road a little ways and had a blast. We played soccer, Frisbee, and tons of other little games on the beach. Not to mention just swimming in the ocean and playing in the waves. Also the weather was perfect, as always in the coastal region here. It starts out a little over cast in the morning and by noon its blue sky, hot, and sunny. So even with lathering the sun screen on everyone, and I mean everyone, got sunburnt. After the beach we went to this look out place, el Mirador, which was atop a hill and over looked the coast and town we were in which was beautiful. Tons and tons of pictures were taken here with all the exchange students, which was perfect for picture taking. After that we had a talent show night which was such a great idea on rotary’s part. You could do it by country or just by yourself, obviously the goal being to display the talents of everyone. So countries did dances and songs that are traditional to their country. A friend and I decided some what last minute to throw something together. She plays guitar and has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. So I grabbed a trashcan and flipped it over and gave it some rhythm and also beat boxed and we ended up getting third place. It was such a surprise but it was great. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150439595775482 (The link is for the video I made of the whole trip with various videos.) And after that we had a big dance party, which we had every night actually. 

Volleyball on the beach

bonfire on the beach

The next day we just went to the beach across the street for a sports day. We had soccer, volleyball, little races, tubing out on the ocean and other little things. There were tournaments in the soccer and volleyball, which was really fun. Except for the fact that the Brazilians just made there own soccer team and just destroyed everyone else as you could imagine. 

parade in Portoviejo

 

at el Mirador

The next day was the most fun I think. No one really knew what we were doing but they told us to wear our rotary blazers and long pants. Well we ended up being in the independence parade of the city Portoviejo. So this group of 145 gringos all waving their flags and singing their national anthems and going crazy were walking down the street and for some reason the locals LOVED it. They were all cheering for us and would try there English or other languages they knew. Also everyone wanted pictures with us, which was really funny. So that was a blast. After that we went to a market in a town called Monticristi and we all bought traditional hats, shirts, pants, trinkets, and other native things. 

dance party in the rotary club

Then that night was our final night so there was a formal dinner at the rotary club in Portoviejo. So we went there and before the dinner we actually got to ride the chivas, which are these party busses pretty much. It’s a bus that drives around a town or city and plays music and you dance on top, inside, along side, or anywhere you want. So with three chivas we had 145 kids packed onto these things driving through the streets just dancing and having fun. Then with our final dinner they introduced us country by country as we walked out to our tables and sat. There were multiple speakers and then dinner and everything like that. Then there was a king and queen that were picked out of everyone. So every country elected a king and queen from their country and then they all went head to head in a runway show down which was hilarious to watch. And then after as always we had a giant dance party until 3 in the morning. The next morning it as quite sad as everyone gave their hugs and kisses and goodbyes. The next time we’ll all be together again isn’t until February I think when we go to the amazon. But overall it was amazing. I’ll admit the rooms, food, and hotel itself was much nicer at Mompiche with the all-inclusive resort. But this was just simple which I liked a lot more. The people though make it what it is. We would be put in a run down warehouse for a week and still have the time of our lives. These are without a doubt friends I’ll have for a lifetime. I love them all.

Gotta love sunburn

Patriotism  at its best

the chivas