Trip
to Guayaquil.
Guayaquil
is Ecuador’s main port near the mouth of the Guayas river. It is Ecuador’s largest
city with roughly 3 million people and where I attended my first six years of
school. We drove about 2 hours from a little coastal fishing village/resort
called Punta Blanca to Guayaquil.
My
specific interest, other than just seeing how the city has changed, was to see
where I lived and to visit my old school.
Since
I left for the U.S., Guayaquil has grown six fold in population and its area has
expanded beyond my ability to recognize almost everything. However, using two
landmarks I remember from childhood, those being the Cathedral and a building
that looks like a castle, I easily located where I lived and my old grammar
school.
The
place where I lived is in a neighborhood called five corners. I was warned that
it was a dangerous place, but I did not find it so. The house and apartment have
deteriorated significantly, some of it was boarded up, but the structure had
not changed in decades. That was the most surprising thing for me. The
structure, and for that matter, the
surrounding streets, were almost as I had left them as a child. I
suppose some things never change.
Moving
on to my school, San Jose -La Salle, With the exception of a different color,
the school too, was exactly as I remembered it. Many memories came rushing. How
we lined up for inspection, where we had to recite our daily memorizing task,
where and how I broke my arm and all the
festive events of the school. Thus, my goal for visiting Guayaquil was
met.
In general, I found Guayaquil,
congested, loud and hectic. Glad to be going back to Cuenca, which is my
favorite city in Ecuador.
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