Day 9

Day 9- To the beach! May 20th

We woke up today knowing that we would be headed to the beach before not too long, so we were a pretty excited bunch. We showered and grabbed the breakfast, which was filling and delicious as usual. I feel like I have stopped giving it the time and respect the breakfast deserves, but I guess I really do know how good it is, so I need not spend too much time emphasizing it. After breakfast we spent a goodly amount of time playing super smash and Mario Tennis. I know it doesn’t seem like an absolutely necessary thing to do, but it is fun to spend time with the Galdos siblings no matter what our medium of entertainment might be. We were supposed to meet up with Gonzalo at 11:00, but Maury got in the shower at about that time. We sort of felt bad, because we would end up running over an hour (at least) to his place, but, apparently, such tardiness is customary in South America and we shouldn’t worry about it. Whether we should worry or not, it wasn’t our fault, so we didn’t concern ourselves too much.

Once Maury was finally ready, we went to the store to buy some snacks and our food for the beach trip. This was a hard ordeal for a couple of reasons: one, it was awkward to try to split costs and stuff because we were sharing our meat and bread, and Roxanna loaded our stuff together, so we were forced to make one payment; two, it was weird to buy and consider our alcohol choices with a mom present – a problem that we shouldn’t preoccupy ourselves with too much here, but it is weird nevertheless; and three, I never know how to shop or what to get. The milk is never refrigerated and is actually kept in the aisles just like the canned beans and pasta, the juices range in flavor from orange to guanabanana and other shit I have never heard of, and there is such a variety of bread that I cant make an educated decision. Again, I felt bad because we were running so late to Gonzalo’s place, but I guess this trip was a necessary evil, and we made our way there after we stopped by the Santa Patricia Textiles factory (I actually think this stop may have been before the store, but it wasn’t too important anyways).

We unloaded all our food and clothes to Gonzalo’s house, and we said goodbye to Roxanna. She is really quite a sweetheart, and I am proud to call myself “one of her babies.” We could hear beautiful piano playing inside, and, apparently, the whole family is filled with outstanding artists and musicians. The pianist, his sister, introduced herself to us before quickly disappearing, and we took a seat on their back porch area. We were served with lemonade, and food arrived quickly after. The whole maids cooking food, we eating it, and they clean it up thing is still weird to me, and I know I wont be accustomed to it on this trip. The food was basic, yet delicious, and it was nice to have something in our stomach. Though this doesn’t seem like too long of an ordeal, it took well over an hour before we got on our way to the beach.

The ride was to be about an hour, but I think it took us at least 1.5x that to get there. We made stops at a bread store and a lucuma shop (which is a native fruit put into ice cream, chocolates, pastes, etc). The bread was good, but the lucuma is something unlike I have had back home. I originally didn’t think I was a fan, but this shop made me a believer. I got lucuma ice cream with chocolate and pecans, and it is probably my all-time favorite that I have had. It is basically like a caramel fruit, which works perfectly in ice cream. Though the trip was long, it was fun and full of good beach views, but it was still good to get to the beach property.

Gonzalo’s grandpa’s beach house is fantastic and spacious. It has 4 bedrooms, 7 beds, a spacious family, entertainment area, a good lakeside view and location, and a small pool/Jacuzzi right out back. I don’t know how much this place costs, but it is awesome, and I need one. The level of entertainment and fun times that could be had here is incredible, and I wish I could have been a part of the high school/college debauchery that has surely taken place here. Maury told me that he has never been drunk here, but, judging from Gonzalo’s lifestyle, there has surely been some interesting occasions here. We knew we were in for a good night.

We cracked open our liter beers that we got at Wong after a quick walk and tour of the place. Gonzalo made pisco sours that were extra good because they didn’t contain egg (thank God, seriously… it is such an unnecessary ingredient no matter what the locals tell you). We finished our drinks and the other drinks, and we were well on our way towards enjoying our night. After a while of conversating, we decided to make our way to the beach, and, hopefully, at least touch some ocean water.

The sound of the ocean always amazes me, and it takes me back to some fantasy book description of sea life. The sound, smell and overall feel of it makes me never want to leave, and I hope I allow myself a future that has a beach involved. On our way towards the beach, some security dudes kind of stopped us and asked what we were doing. I sat down and played the guitar while Maury’s dealed with the issue, but the guards moved on after a quick Maury dispatching. We got up and continued towards the beach, but it was at this point I thought I had dropped my phone when I sat down. We tried retracing my steps and finding where I had sat, but it turns out my phone was in my coat, which I had left at the beach entrance. Silly mistake, sure, but I care about my iPhone, and losing it would suck balls.

After we found my phone, we continued towards the beach, and I got to get my feet in the water at least. It didn’t even feel too cold, and I loved the feel and smell of sea water. The waves were abnormally this huge, I guess, and it was fun to see their power and act like I faced the waves head on as I stood in the tidal area. I actually wanted to stay there and play in the water (again, I am a five year old), but the guys wanted to move on and head back home. I feel like Jake and I would have stayed and played if it was just us, but the other guys were going back towards the house, so we reluctantly followed.

I knew that the guys would be tired and probably want to sleep upon return, but they stayed up a little while, at least, before retiring. We attempted some singing/harmonizing to different songs (mainly the Beach Boys {fitting right?}), and we had a lot of fun with it. I think Gonzalo believes we are crazy, but I don’t feel bad considering he spent at least 20 minutes showing me his pictures of UFO’s that he has taken. He actually has some interesting pictures with inexplainable shiny objects in the background, and he truly believes they are UFO’s. I think it is some camera error, or something of the sort, but indulging his queries was worth the effort.

After a while everyone was tired and started trickling off to bed. Gonzalo went first, then Maury, and after 20 minutes Jake and Austin made their way as well. Honestly. I kind of wanted to make my way back to the beach, or go swim in the nearby lake thing that eventually joined the ocean, but I didn’t. I decided to catch up on yesterday’s and today’s journal, and it is probably a good thing. Getting more than 2 days behind would be awful, and I already feel like I do myself some sort of injustice by not documenting every second of my vacation. Though that feels like an injustice, surely sleeping is a greater one. I really wish we could have stayed up, swam in the lake, talked on the beach, had another beer, get in a little trouble… something or anything that would have been more than sleeping. Although I understand the physically depressing effects of beer, I guess I am just affected differently. A couple beers makes me want to go out, explore, liven up and have fun, but all too often, others don’t feel the same. I guess it might be a good thing to have others that tone things down a bunch, but I am slightly depressed anyways.

It is 1am, and I have been awake by myself now for over an hour and 15 minutes. I usually get depressed by myself, and I am surprised I have been able to put up with it for this long. Though the beach and exploration is still tempting, I think that I might follow the sleep route so that I can wake up early with the guys and enjoy the beach tomorrow. I bet we are going to have a blast even though I will end up red as a lobster. At least it should be exciting, and I hope that I can feel tired and accomplished. I am sure it will be a good day. I wish I could end my night cuddling up with Allison, but I guess I cant have everything eh… a couple weeks I guess… a couple weeks.