Guayaquil

The warm and hydrating climate, the drab white buildings mixed with random colonial architecture  reminds me that I am in South America. The honking horns and adventurous taxi rides with complete Spanish immersion are continuous affirmations. I've only been here one day and I'm already diving into travel mode- comfty walking shoes, makeup-less face, phone-in-hand combo replaced with camera-in-hand, and Spanish language mode switched on. I love the language challenges, or rather opportunities. In fact, Christian and  I began the day with several local newspaper articles... This was not manageable without Webster's Spanish English pocket book and google, but we were able to read about the local soccer team and of course drama at the Oscars. We began the day at Iguana Park, probably the best way to do so. The name is not misleading. There are iguanas in literally all shapes and sizes under every tree, crossing every sidewalk and just out of reach of every toddler. They slowly and awkwardly creep across the park. Some are lone rangers and others huddle in massive groups. Many of them are asleep, awkwardly folding their front arms straight along their sides giving the false appearance that there arms are broken off. They're not timid, but rather apathetic towards the eager tourists. They wander seemingly without aim and some have nubs for tails from probable encounters with bratty children or worse-traffic of the nearby road. The older ones are large and lazy with more-than-normal dryness to their scales, less than bright color to their covering and with faces like that of the Grumpy Old Men characters, double chin and all. The journey then continued along Malecon 2000, which is a recently (relatively speaking) developed area that runs along Rio Guayas for just under two miles. But it's the end of this glorious walk that is the main feature. You begin with a slight slope of the sidewalk, paved roads turn to cobblestone, drab white building transform into colorful micro-buildings and music begins to fill the air. Then you reach step #1... And continue to step 444. The climb involves passing by various cafés that could easily be mistaken for a cute house rather than business location. Many of the doorways do, however, serve as an entrance for Ecuadorean family homes. Without shame, I inconspicuously peaked into several doorframes to get a brief glimpse into the life of a local. The houses were small, cluttered, often with several children sitting in front of an archaic television set (or even playing on the window sill). The kitchens and living rooms often appeared inseparable and many middle-aged men slumped shirtlessly on the couch. At the top of the 444th step there's a small lighthouse which provides further opportunity to climb stairs, and more importantly sweat. But rest assured they had uva (grape) powerade to replenish those lost electrolytes. Today's tour included various churches, gardens, and sites. One day down,
many many more to go.

Written from Hostel Dreamkapture.