The Canoa Spanish program in Canoa had one big advantage over Vida Verde in Quito: they provided more concrete structure through grammar and exercise books for purchase. But the teachers at Vida Verde were far more educated and talented. In particular, Peter’s Canoa teacher, Marcia, was loathe to stray from the books. And she committed the worst sin of all: she did not appreciate Peter’s stellar sense of humor.
My teacher, Jahaira, was more varied and interesting in her appraoch, but still was no match for Lucia in Quito. In addition to working from the books, Jahaira taught me Spanish proverbs, guided me through parts of a book and the newspaper, and spent time on discussion. Happily, her earnest and hard-fought effort to convert this secular Jew to evangelical Christianity during one of our conversations was dropped after one class.
In Canoa, the beach was long and sandy, and the water warm with very few cross-currents and mostly gentle waves. It was fairly clean, but trash did wash up from the waters, along with the occasional deceased sea creature. The sunsets were spectacular.
Canoa is fairly undeveloped and poor, with most of its streets unpaved, and a feel that reminded us of certain parts of Mexico thirty years ago. The people are warm and inviting, and the town sports a surprising number of hostels and restaurants.
Several ex-pats have settled in Canoa, including some retired Americans, but they do not overwhelm the feel of the town. Happily one such ex-pat is a fascinating Australian woman named Melanie who, before moving to Canoa with her husband and small child, lived in Thailand for fifteen years. There she studied Thai massage—quite successfully in our humble opinion!
Another treasured ex-pat in Canoa is one of Peter’s former high school students, Zoe (now age 24), who married an Ecuadoran, Rufo, and has made this town her home. Spending time with Zoe and Rufo was the highlight of our week in Canoa.
at Charly’s Bar for lunch. Delicious!
Last year, Zoe and Rufo purchased a farm on which they built a beautiful house. There, they raise animals humanely, grow organic produce, and care for Rufo’s delightful children. We loved visiting their farm. On another night we watched Rufo play soccer, and on yet another night we almost, but not quite, were able to enjoy a celebration of a saint and a pig. More on that in a bit.
We very much enjoyed all the members of Zoe’s new family! The youngest was capitivated by Peter’s reading of Where the Wild Things Are, en español.
In addition to hosting us for dinner on their farm, Zoe invited us to a huge annual celebration in honor of St. Gregorio, which was to occur the following Saturday at the home of Rufo’s grandparents. We were very excited about spending time with Rufo’s extended family, and beyond intrigued by the story Zoe provided about the origin of the party, which went something like this: Some thirty years ago, a pig died, but three days later, miraculously, it was resurrected, and now, every year, the family honors the resurrected pig’s memory with a huge party at which a pig is served.
Alas, when we went to dinner at the farm and asked for a retelling of the tale, we learned from Rufo that the actual story was a bit less fantastic. The pig did not die, but instead was very sick, and, after the grandparents prayed to St. Gregorio, it was miraculously cured. The rest of the story remains the same… annual celebration in honor of St. Gregorio, procession, prayers, serving of a pig, dancing, etc.
We went to the grandparents’ house for the party at the appointed time Saturday, but it was clear that the event was to begin on Ecuadoran time (and was scheduled to last until sunrise). In part because we had a long drive the next day, we decided not to stick it out. It seems this is becoming a theme for our last night in Ecuadoran cities and towns! (Remember the aborted prison tour?) This event was much more promising though, and I was sad to miss it. Maybe next time!
A couple final highlights from Canoa. First, I loved the Sundown Beach Hotel. Our room looked right out onto the beach and was clean, large and comfortable. The hotel provided water, a shared kitchen, and breakfast for a very modest up-charge.
Best of all, the hotel is run by a warm, engaging and hospitable family, all of whom went out of their way to help us make the most of our stay.
they always are in real life!
And second, one day while I was reading in one of the hammocks on the hotel grounds, three young girls approached me, chatting away. As soon as I began to talk to them, they climbed up into my hammock! We spent a charming hour playing, laughing, taking pictures, and pushing each other on hammocks. It turns out their father is the guard for the house next to the hotel and also works in our hotel part-time as a gardener. We found it refreshing to encounter children who felt free to engage with adults, untainted by repeated American warnings of “stranger danger.”
A few days later the girls returned. We made popcorn, gave them small notebooks and pencils, and tried to oblige when they repeatedly asked us to draw various animals in their notebooks. Peter’s much-in-demand horse drawings were good. My cat and bunny drawings were also good, but only in the sense that any of the kids could easily take credit for them and no one would doubt her for a minute!
Although our week in Canoa was very relaxing, our hotel was a bit isolated, and we didn’t spend enough time practicing Spanish. On Sunday we headed to Ayampe, another beach town further south. There, we plan to ease up a bit on the formal Spanish lessons, but spend time studying and talking to people. We also plan to visit some of the spectacular nature sites in the area. The following week we head to Cuenca for further formal study.
To be continued…
