Things I'm Leaving Behind

Things I’m Leaving Behind

7/25/12 

            What an awesome weekend! On Friday we left for the beach at 12am (actually that’s technically Saturday but whatever!) and arrived at 6am. I must have been in like twenty different positions just trying to sleep the whole six hours. It was hard when there was loud Spanish music playing and a bunch of people talking, singing, and laughing. Those crazy Ecuadorians didn’t sleep until like 4am, and when we arrived, they were just as awake as before. However, the ride wasn’t AS bad as I thought it would be because we actually stopped for bathroom breaks every so often, and Santiago bought me Yuca chips at a rest stop. He knows they are my favorite. =)

            When we arrived, we went to our rooms. I was with Pamela, a friend of Santiago and I, and her best friend, Gisela. We were first put in one room where I took a nap, but then we moved to a different room. I don’t think the room was quite what I expected, but it was nice! Also we had a TV, which was awesome. There was a pool in the hotel, too.

            We went to breakfast, which I didn’t really eat. It was fish and rice. For me, that’s kind of a crazy meal to have at 8 in the morning. I had a little bit, but I was more tired than hungry.

            After breakfast, we went on the wonderful trek to get me a bathing suit. We went to several different places with all the same result- WAY too small. It seems that bathing suits made here are made to show off as much as humanly possible. It’s not even that everyone is skinny, but that they really like to show skin. Yet after hours of searching, we finally found one that didn’t look too bad. At first I was embarrassed to be showing my stomach after years of being overweight, but later it felt so good to finally not feel so “fat”.

            We went back to the hotel to eat lunch, which was probably the typical soup or something. Then we went onto the beach and hung out in the water for a bit before our boat ride. They gave us a little tour in the water, and then we went back to the hotel. We were in the pool for quite some time, which was pretty fun. Then I took a little nap before we went to dinner. I forget all the meals now, but they usually consisted of rice with shrimp, soup, or fish!

            After a little bit, we took the bus to the same town where I bought my bathing suit, which was about ten minutes away from our hotel. We walked around to find the “discoteca” that Santiago’s classmates were in. Basically the way that they party is with dancing to very loud music, lots of alcohol, and a ton of bright and colorful lights in these huts just off the beach. We found a place to hang out and bought banana splits, which were delicious. I was more than ecstatic at the fact that I was eating cookies and cream ice cream. I kept seeing tons of people in fancy, tight outfits with a lot of makeup and high heeled shoes, which made me completely forget for a second that Ecuador is actually a third world country.

            We went to find Santiago’s friends, and when we finally found them, we had been walking through several loud places with sweaty people. All his classmates were dancing and bringing in several twelve packs of beer consistently every so often. Santiago and I danced for quite a while, and I had to laugh whenever the DJ put on an American song, and I would hear Ecuadorians attempting to sing them with their heavy Hispanic accents.

            After a while of dancing, we went onto the beach to walk around and relax a bit. The beach was pretty at night, but the sight of men just going to the bathroom in the middle of the beach ALMOST ruined that for me. We also saw some like flame-thrower messing around with fire, which was a bit scary, but interesting.

            We got back to the hotel at around 12:30am, and I was beyond exhausted. I had barely any sleep from that long bus ride, but I didn’t end up sleeping until 2am.

            The next morning we ate breakfast and headed off to the beach in that other town. It wasn’t that sunny outside, but the water was pretty warm, so we had a good time swimming for a while. Santiago asked me to help bury him in the sand, so we had fun making mermaids and such out of Santiago and Jerson (Pamela’s boyfriend). At around 1 or so we went to eat lunch in some restaurant. There was a man trying to sell these bongo-looking things, so he kept playing music for us; it was cute! We, of course, ate soup with fish in it and chicken!

            We stayed at the beach for a bit and then went back to the hotel to get showered and changed! I took a long nap only to find out that we couldn’t go to the other town to go dancing for several reasons, one including the fact that apparently on Sundays everything is closed! So, as many Ecuadorians would do, they bought a ton of alcohol and decided to hang out by the pool. I didn’t really hang outside too much, but Pamela, Jerson, Santiago, and I had a fun time putting on each other’s clothes. Yes, the boys wore our clothes, and Santiago even let me put eyeliner on him for like five minutes. We basically just hung out, ate, and talked for an extremely long time. I think we fell asleep at 4am and woke up around 8:30.

            I didn’t feel that great when I woke up, so I didn’t eat breakfast. We went to the other city and basically spent most of our time shopping. I bought a bunch of really stuff for my family and close friends for some pretty decent prices. Santiago’s teachers also got us all smoothies, which was pretty refreshing! I had wanted to buy a dress, too, because I kept seeing all these cute dresses hanging up over shops. I passed this cute purple dress with flowers and just HAD to get that dress! Santiago bargained a bit, and I now have this wonderful sun dress!

            On the bus before we left there was a guy selling these candy-like pieces of coconut. I figured my family here would like them, so I bought a bunch for pretty cheap, and I actually ended up liking the taste, too!

            We went back to eat lunch pretty quick, which was some kind of beef with rice. They saved a bunch of it in bags, and we headed back home. The drive back wasn’t too bad, and Santiago and I fell asleep for a good amount of time. At one point, about an hour and a half away from home, I woke up to just stare out the window. It was dark and rainy, and I could tell they were playing sad songs on the radio. I looked down to see tears in Santiago’s eyes. When I asked what happened, he told me it was because I was leaving in eight days. I couldn’t say much to that, and it hasn’t really hit me yet that I’ll be back in the states this time next week. Yet it did hurt my heart to see that “strong Ecuadorian” cry.

            We arrived home to a very cold night in which we had to bring all of our stuff back to my house. We were tired and didn’t feel that well. So I fell asleep pretty early and woke up the next morning to go to Teleférico with Santiago, which is basically like a sky ride over Quito. We met up with Pamela and Jerson and took the bus to get there. On the way there, Santiago gave up his seat next to me for a lady with a baby. She ended up being very friendly, asking my name and telling her cute daughter to say hi to me. She talked to me for the whole rest of the ride, telling me about her children and trips she’s been on (including the US). As most Ecuadorians do, once she realized I spoke English, she tried to speak a bit in English. She told me I had a “beautiful heart” and explained to Santiago pretty much that I was a good person; she was sweet.

            We got to Teleferico, and I was quite mad that I had to pay $4 more than my friends and was separated into a different line to go into Teleferico. Nonetheless, we went inside the little cube-like thing and went up over the beautiful landscape. We saw a lot of Quito, as well as mountains and other surrounding lands. It was really beautiful, and when we got to the top, we walked around and hiked up a bit. We found out the horses weren’t riding that day, which upset me a bit, but we just hung out and rested for a bit on the mountains instead. After a while there, we went back to get lunch. We got pizza and hamburgers and basically had a wonderful time making a bunch of jokes. We went our separate ways, and Santiago came home to sleep while I Skyped with my wonderful Alexis from the Geneva group.

            Today I woke up around 11 to Santiago’s call. He was sick yesterday and was still not feeling well today, so I walked to his house for the first time alone. I made pasta for lunch, and we went to go shopping at Condado. We bought several things and headed back home. Santiago still didn’t feel well, so I Skyped my mom for a bit and let Santiago sleep for a while.

            I’ve been realizing how short my time here has felt like. It’s gone slow and fast all at the same time. It’s not fun being stuck between two worlds, either. As I said in my entry back in June about the Geneva group, it’s really hard going somewhere for a short period of time. Two months seemed like a long time to me back in May, but now it isn’t long enough. I’ve changed so much just in these past two months, and I’ve learned so much. I knew this was going to be a rough transition, but I guess I won’t really know how hard until Tuesday comes along. I’m not looking forward to leaving at 2am, having an entire day of travel, and returning back to “reality”, as my mom calls it.

            However, I told my mom that America is NOT my “reality”. Just because I only spent two months in Ecuador does not mean I was not in reality. I had so many times of frustration and sadness here; it wasn’t just some big vacation here for two months. I worked and volunteered in a few places, as well as tried my best to keep up relationships here (including my own with my boyfriend) that depended on my growing knowledge of a completely different language than my own. A lot of the time it was extremely hard and cost me a lot of tears. Yet this was a wonderful experience- one that I cherish and know that I will (hopefully) come back to very soon.

            When I was asked (by several people) of why I need to return to America, I explained that much of my life is here and many things are happening right when I get back. I have my good friend’s wedding, time with my cousins, and my 21^st birthday party to plan. Not to mention in September I start interning with an organization for at risk youth. My class load is significantly less, but I will also be working and continuing in ministry. I have so many friends and my own family that I need to get back to. Although I will be leaving behind my incredible boyfriend, my cute twin brothers and sister, my wonderful host parents, beautiful mountains, and long walks from my farm house to the town of Calacali, I know that, come Tuesday, my two months will be up, and it will be time to return back to the life I have lived for (almost) twenty-one years. Yet there is no doubt I will be leaving behind a life I love and hope to one day return to.