Skip to main content

Alone in Olon

Yesterday after dragging around 70+ pounds of luggage through an airport, then onto and off of a bus, then dragging said luggage down a highway where I was at first unable to find the little dirt path leading to the hotel, I was a little cranky.  Add to this the fact that the whole entire day I felt like I was ready to puke and my body still ached from the altitude sickness or food poisoning I got in Quito.

Needless to say, I was not in a happy place when I finally got to Oloncito, or "Little Olon" around 4:00 pm.

I paid $60 for 2 nights at the Barlovento Hosteria, checked the room for cockroaches (happily finding none), and tried to take a nap.




After about an hour and unable to sleep, I walked down the highway into town looking for a restaurant.  Couldn't find even one!  I looked up and down every single street and...nothing except for the shacks on the beach, which I was leary of.  

I must mention that the town itself is very small, about 5 square blocks.  Everything is cinderblock, and nothing is painted so it's all grey.  Plus, the sky is overcast.  It's exactly like San Diego during May Grey or June Gloom, temperature and all.  The chicken here is, I believe, missing a leg.



So I ended up coming back down the highway almost to where I'd started, to a place called Mikes Tacos.  There, I had the worst burrito I've ever had in my life.  I ordered vegetarian so I wouldn't take a chance with meat.  It had boiled carrots and cauliflower (yuk!) one piece of American cheese, and beans that tasted like nothing.  I dug out the few good bits I could find and left the rest, depressed and hating my trip.  Tomorrow would be a new day.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lovely Loja

Loja is absolutely gorgeous! It's even prettier than Cuenca, surrounded by green mountains.  There are always big puffy cloud when the sun is out, or it becomes cloudy and drizzly and it's not quite as pretty then. I've been able to find things here -- laundromat, hair salons, post office, market,... My hotel is great -- Hotel Paris, and it's about $16 a night.  It's a huge room, they clean it daily, it's in a great location, and it's fairly quiet.  I think there are only 2 of us on the 5th floor. Even 5 floors up in a city, there is a rooster that starts at 4:15.  I can barely hear him but it's enough to wake me up. Sunday is Market Day.  I walked to one park and bought a lot of things from indigenous women selling jewelry and stuff.  The other market is mostly a vegetable and fruit market but I got a few other things there.  I can't wait to get my apartment and go to the market to buy fresh produce to take home! The town sq...

One Week Down Teaching English in Loja

I have officially completed one full week teaching English at in Loja, Ecuador.  It's been interesting, and I can't say I'm thrilled at this point.  The way things are done here is so different than at home, it's hard to go with the flow. I was offered the job by the school's "international recruiter" which was interesting.  There was really no interview, just a conversation about Loja.  I was told I started Monday so I started thinking of a lesson to introduce myself and have students introduce themselves.  My questions about who and when I would be teaching remained unanswered until Monday at 3:00 when I was supposed to meet with one of the managers.  She was out that day.  So I was eventually filled in, told that I'd be teaching teens.  If anyone knows me, this was my biggest nightmare scenario. So I started Tuesday night, from 3-6, one hour each to 3 Teen classes at the same level which is supposed to be Early Intermediate since they'v...

The Middle of the World: Zero Degrees Latitude and Quito

Arriving in Quito My second time in Quito started out a little rough, as did the first time when I puked all night.  This time, I arrived at the Quitumbe bus station from Banos.  I'd forgotten to check to see what the taxi fare to the Mariscal Sucre area of Quito should have been ($12) so when all these people ran up to me at the airport, yelling out, "where are you going?"  When I told them Mariscal they said $12! $12!  I said no, I want a taxi with a taximeter.  (This is what Lonely Planet insists you do.) So I went outside to the taxi area and waited for an open taxi.  A family nearby asked if I needed a taxi and I said yes.  They flagged one down for me and let me have it.  They were being helpful, the guy calmly asked where I was going, and I told him.  I asked if he was using a taximeter and he said "of course, it's the law" like I was some kind of criminal.  I felt absolutely safe and secure. A half hour into the ride, when t...