I'm just going to start off and tell everyone exactly what is going on right here and right now... because no one is going to believe it. But rest assured that it is all true 100%... and I'm living it and if you don't believe me, please feel free to do your own research.
This is the kind of thing that people say "it could only happen to you"... and right now, I'm inclined to agree.
Ecuador is in the middle of a referendum. and due to this electoral process, it is illegal to sell or buy alcohol for 4 days before the election. That's right... I've landed my last few days in the country right in the middle of PROHIBITION!
This is real.
I'm going to need a lot of support from those that love me, in order to get through the next few days.
I've been told that they don't want politicians bribing people with alcohol and the government wants the entire country sober when they go in to vote. I tried to pinky swear to a few restaurant servers that I would absolutely NOT be drunk when I DIDN'T go vote, because I'm NOT Ecuadorian... but I still don't get any wine....
In my opinion, if they are going to cause all of the tourists to go dry, the least they can do is let us have a say in where the country is headed.
In addition to finding out that alcohol is illegal, I woke up with a pounding headache... from the drinks the night prior, as I already mentioned. That's what happens to you when you don't really drink for 3 weeks! You start experiencing hangovers again... and they aren't fun. In fact, it stayed with me all day.
I forced my sleepy & lazy ass out of bed though, and walked in to town for breakfast, and I'm actually quite surprised that they let me in their establishment. It's a long way in to town- and due to the incessant downpour, it was muddy, it was wet, I was filthy, I was soaked right through... When I walked in, I arrived looking more like a dirty & disheveled ditch pig than the inspirational womanI'm desperately really trying to be.
Fruit, yoghurt & granola on the menu... There is a God! And wow, they didn't skimp on the portions... it was like my own personal buffet. I wanted to say "I can't eat all this"but decided to keep my mouth shut for fear that they'd start folding it all up and stacking it on a 5" styrofoam plate.
It was delicious though and I'm proud to say that I polished off almost the entire thing... except for the"butter" (which we all know is disguised as rancid margarine)and half of the yogurt, which was yellow and I'm not sure why...
It poured all day.
All day.
I do have to admit that something horrendously mortifying happened to me on this particular day - and although it's definitely MORE than "blog worthy," I am going to spare each & every one of you the pain of the details... and keep this one to myself, unless, of course, you reach out to me and ask me to tell you the story. Then I probably will, because I find that they older I get, the less filter I have, the less personal pride I have and the less humiliation I feel when I screw up - publicly or privately.
It's like there almost comes a time when it's just par for the course.
If you can't beat it, join it.
I was going to pop in to the most expensive store on the planet and grab a bottle of $12 Gato Negro... but I forgot that it's illegal to drink.Police were trolling the streets too... slowing down to look in every location for suspicious alcohol consumption activity going on.
If I was here for any longer, I would open my own Speak Easy underground.
Lazy day all in all. Not much to do in the rain. Went back in to town with Jennie(one of the Canadian guests)for lunch later on and then just sat around... just a bunch of teetotalers hangin' out... practising the art of abstinence.
I booked a flight to rainy & stormy Quito tomorrow morning. There goes my tan...
I could take the bus for $15... but I've been told that it usually turns in to a 10 hour journey... or I could take a flight (40 minutes) for $105.
Flight, it shall be.
I'll start hooking when I get home and have it paid off in no time.
Honestly... I don't think I could take 10 hours of wondering if my luggage was still on the bus...
Ahhh... living with anxiety...
Warmest regards to those who love the bus though... I just don't want to be in that gang anymore.