Spring Break: Dia 3

We left the hostel at 5:45am because we needed to be at the "van station" at 6am. We felt badly because the room had beds for 6 other people (12 in total) and we made noise and turned on the light when we were leaving.

To get to Puerto Escondito, there are two ways to get there. A large bus that takes about 9 hours or a 15-passenger van that takes 6 hours. We opted for the shorter and cheaper (130 pesos) ride.

If someone had told me how dangerous a 15-passenger van driven by a Mexican on curvy roads in the mountains was, I wouldn't have taken the cheaper ride. We were high in the mountains and could have driven off the road and fallen down the cliff. I was surprised we didn't because at most of the turns, our Mexican driver sped up instead of slowing down. The whole time, I tried to either sleep or close my eyes so I couldn't see the oncoming danger. It was kinda nice because the 15-passenger van had 4 benches and there were no other passengers. That meant we could each take a bench to lie down on (plus a person in the front seat). In addition, the driver played techno music the whole time. Looking back (now that I'm safe), it was kinda fun.

We arrived in Puerto Escondito around noon and found a hostel that was recommended in Carla's book, The Hotel Mayflower. It wasn't as nice as our last hostel, but then hostel's aren't really supposed to be nice. It had a real hostel feel because there were crazy people everywhere.

After putting down our stuff, we went to the beach that lots of surfers go to because the waves are awesome. The waves were HUGE and I saw some surfers trying to tackle them.




While we were at the beach, we met an American guy named Jack who was learning Spanish in Puerto. I thought he was really cute and was glad when he wanted to hang out with us. We went to a outdoor resturant on the beach where we watched the sunset as we ate.

There was a huge party advertised for tonight, so at about 10pm we found a large group of people walking to the bar where the party was being held. When I got there, I realized how much it wasn't my scene. People were just drinking and talking and it looked really boring. I wasn't going to leave, so I just sat in a chair and resigned myself to have a crappy night. There was some dance music playing, but I told myself that I was not here to have fun--just sit and be a sourpuss.

When I realized what I was doing, I told myself to stop being negative. I was on spring break in Puerto Escondito for goodness sake! I could pout in Utah, but not here! I got up from my chair, went to the near empty dancefloor, and started dancing. I soon joined some other students that I kinda knew and kept dancing. Eventually, Samantha came and also danced (while Carla, Austin, and Jack kept talking). I love dancing! After about 10 minutes, I was in a great mood and was having a great time! Sure, the music was kind of lame (they played lots of 90's songs), but I was doing something that I love!

I realized tonight that attitude is everything. I am the only person that can put myself in certain moods. If someone offends me, I'm the only person that can take the offense. If I'm at a boring party, I'm the only one that can make myself bored. Sure, situations can help put you in certain moods, but only you can control how you feel about things. I hope I can really hold on to the lesson I learned tonight because rather than sitting in a chair being mad, I danced the night away under the stars.