“It won’t be long, ‘til I get on back home. Back home, back home. Back home where I belong.”
--US Army Airborne Cadence
Absolutely unbelievable. I have less than a week left in Ecuador and time feels as though it is slipping through my fingers. I finally got to ride the Teleferico to the top of Pichincha for a view of the city from above. I have photos but they really can’t capture how long the city is. I think you would need two panoramic photos put together to really get a sense of it. We had our Despedida dinner with the whole program and just a few days later one of my very best friends here, Amber, left for the States. It was surreal saying goodbye to her…this is really ending!
It all came crashing down when we were out to dinner at Vista Hermosa (Beautiful View), a rooftop restaurant that really does have a beautiful view of the city. All of my favorite girls were out to celebrate both Amber’s last night and birthday, looking classy in fancy dresses, having dinner with wine, admiring the city lit up all around us, complete with beautiful cathedrals and fireworks. Just when I thought the evening was perfect, a live string trio of guitars and a violin came out and started playing an instrumental version of “With or Without You” by U2. Looking at my girls and my city, I just started tearing up in the restaurant. And then I looked next to me and saw Em tearing up, too, and I nearly starting crying, right there in the restaurant. It's hard to explain; it was just such a powerful moment. I just met Em in January and now I can hardly imagine not having her in my daily life. She is seriously one of the best people I know. I think that was simultaneously my happiest and saddest moment in Quito. I will never, ever forget it. And that string trio must have felt really accomplished after that, having moved two Gringas to tears!
That night in the cab going home, Amber and I were chatting…The life that we are living now is not sustainable. We can’t live here forever and even if we tried, it wouldn’t be the same. This experience had to end and we can go home knowing that there was virtually no way it could have been better. And this experience, everything we’ve learned, and all the ways we’ve changed, will mean nothing if we don’t go back and put it to use. It’s time to move forward.
Each day we are someone new and different than the person we were yesterday. Each experience and person changes us. I’m not the person I was when I got here and although it has kind of turned into a joke here, complete with extreme hand gestures, “This is the best Pam that has ever existed!”
I’m feeling more and more content with leaving. I’m sad to leave these friends, this home, and this era of my life but I am really, really excited to see my family again and to get to CYO camp. If I didn’t have such amazing people and experiences waiting for me back home, I really don’t think I could leave this Saturday.
I’m spending this weekend, my last full EcuaWeekend, trying to get work done and hanging out with friends as much as possible. I have three exams and two projects until I am done. I’ll get at least one free day and then it’s a flight home. Luckily, Em is on my flight to Houston so I get some extra time with her. It just seems so unreal that it’s nearly over.
So here is one last edition of…
FACTOIDS!
- My new favorite G-rated curse word: “¡Miércoles!” It means Wednesday and is used in place of ¡Mierda! (You can Word Reference that if you’d like).
- The other day I was in our backyard and on the back porch I saw an enormous dead tarantula. I would rather find a dead tarantula than a live one, but it’s still disconcerting to know that there are tarantulas inhabiting the same living space as me.
- Here in Ecuador, we don’t say “Adios” for goodbye, only Chao or Hasta luego. Adios or “to God” means a permanent goodbye, goodbye for good.
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