We left Montañita today for Salinas, a resort town for Guaquileños. We took a taxi for $15, 4 people. Not bad for an hour drive, eh? We rocked out to Led Zeppelin, Men at Work, the Beatles. As much as I enjoy Spanish music and dancing to it, the occasional dose of rock and roll never hurts.
Salinas is where the rich of Ecuador go for beach vacations, so they say. It looks a bit like a resort town constructed in the 80s with more recent additions being constructed as we speak. Our hotel left quite a bit to be desired. It´s a trip. For $15 a night, usually you expect a lot in Ecuador, but Salinas is a resort town. The hotel did have a pool--bonus! And we ordered three meals ahead of time (dinner tonight, breakfast and lunch tomorrow) for all of $5 total. It´s crazy the difference in money. My friend Edison pays $35 a month in rent for an apartment about the size of mine. Granted, it´s not in NYC, and there´s no kitchen, but he has room for a sofa--something I´ve only dreamed of for my pad! Another friend who was in Montañita last weekend (his name is Raleigh, interesting enough) makes $700 a month as an engineer in Ambato. That´s loads of dough here.
After dinner, we went for a stroll on the main drag in search of desert. Today is the annual Dia de La Mujer (day of the woman) for what it´s worth. We stopped at an Italian place with a long desert and cocktail menu. I ordered a martini. What was I thinking? It was the first time I´d seen a martini on a menu, so I figured, why not? Wow. Martinis in Ecuador...sad state of affairs. Dessert at least turned out ok.
Oh, and I called my mom in Singapore tonight. They´re 13 hours ahead, so it requires a bit of planning! Her birthday is tomorrow here, today there. Happy Birthday, Mom! Love you!
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