Quick sum up of my last few weeks
in Ecuador!
Its
about 4 in the morning, and Im sitting in a corner of the Quito airport waiting
for my flight looking…possibly sticking out a bit… being rubia and all and
eating bananas and peanut butter, oh and I made myself a fruitloop necklace and
am munching on that lol…but story of my life here. Anyway, the last few weeks have flown by, but have been fan
flippin fantastic! The weekend after school I spent with my family in
Cuenca. My sisters and I went to
Cajas National Park, which is a whole new world when its sunny. I had been once before, but on a cloudy
rainy day (still awesome!). We
chilled and explored, and I went in the freezing lake and they thought I was
crazy of course. The páramo is the
ecosystem of agua, and the grounds are delightfully soaked, so I took off my
shoes and hopped and squished around.
We also ate some of an edible quinoa tree, and saw a hummingbird. We returned to a table full of an enormous
pot of crabs, along with crab soup.
Quite a fun lunch…hammering crabs, meat flying everywhere…crabs are
fricken tasty too. Sunday we all
went to the biopark zoo I have talked about, so my family could meet my best
animal friends here, and I could say some last goodbyes. We saw a lion feeding, the escapy
monkeys are followed us around (those guys are still running the place I tell
ya), the new chiquito black monkeys, the bears, the cocrodile taking a sun
bath, and all the others. We
returned to a delicious stuffed rosemary chicken, napped and watched movies,
and then I took my fam out for a last dinner…lots of fun. Monday I left with Katy and Lindsey to
meet the others on the coast. We
spent a week relaxing, soaking up the sun, reading, eating seafood and drinking
beer, reading (read hunger games finally…so good!), and getting our asses
whooped by the waves (meant for surfing). Oh, and I of course got pretty
obsessed with shell hunting, and ended up making a pretty awesome mobile with
beach wood, colorful string, and a ton of different shells for my family. Which I of course proceeded to break,
because I always seem to do that (but my mom’s a museum art restorer so that’s
okay I guess) Friday (4/20) we
decided to go out with a bang in Montenita (the las vegas of Ecuador), and that
we did. Montenita is unbelievable…truly
a non-stop party on the beach.
$250 coctail stands and ceviche stands line the beach, and the town is
basically composed of bars and restaurants. We started our nights with coctails on the beach watching
the sunset (well for me a few shots of tequila inside a beer), later stumbled
upon dollar tequila shots, and later stumbled upon a bar with a sand dance
floor pouring tequila straight in your mouth all night long for free…the night
followed beach and rock adventures, headlamps (the cities lights went out),
dancing, a troll hat, hot dogs, and more.
One night was sufficient in there to say the least, and the next day we
all headed our ways, Goldann and I to Cuenca. I went for a last few beers at the beer house with my sisters,
and a last few hotdogs. I don’t
think I have yet mentioned that I have become a bit of a hotdog hamburger fiend
here. They really know how to do
them…4-5 sauces, onions, eggs, ham on top, sometimes hotdog on top of hotdog,
sometimes fried egg on top, chifles on top. Peaches, pineapples, almost
anything you can imagine. The next
day my sisters and I went to baños is Cuenca, which is steam saunas, and hot
pools and such…really relaxing.
And later, my sisters and my brother and Goldann and I went to see
hunger games! I spent the final
day in Cuenca with Goldann visiting our teachers, and wondering around and what
not, had dinner and watched Simpsons with my fam, and then they surprised me
with an amazing book of pics and messages from all of them. I really have been blessed with my
family here. I have been so
comfortable and so happy, and they have truly accepted me into the family. They are truly good people, with good
hearts, and a genuine care and interest in life and people. We have spent so
many fun times, and have had so many interesting convos, and learned so from
about and from each family member.
I have gotten to know them all really well in my time here, and it will
be a pretty hard shock not seeing them everyday. However, I’m confident that we will have more time and
adventures together in the future.
There are people in your life that you meet, that you know will be in
your life forever, and they are those people. Yesterday, I flew from Cuenca to Quito, and today I fly from
Quito home to the US. Again, my
family being awesome and all, my mom and my sister planned some work they had
to do in Quito around my plans and came with me! So yesterday we spent the day at my aunts house and in the
city. My sister and I went to the
museum of water, which is pretty sweet….equipped with a huge bubble exhibit, and
a number of rain and gas and storm exhibits. We wandered around the center, the squares, and a few
churches…which was especially fun, because she is an architect, and has worked
a lot of Quito, and could tell me all about the buildings and churches, and
history. We went for a last meal
of delicious garlic camarones (before I return to the feo shrimps of the US)
and a last few pilsners (the kind of horrible beer I have grown to love here in
Ecuador). We went back to my
aunts, and spent the night chatting and laughing. I napped for a few hours, and that brings me here to the
airport, sitting in my corner and attracting stares per usual. Adios Ecuador, con much gusto! By the way, I am dreading returning to
English…its kind of a feo language, and I love speaking Spanish…also I have
been constantly thinking and dreaming in Spanish, and I’m worried how fast I
might loose it! Choa!
