So on January 4th, I left for Ecuador. It's my second time visiting the country. Last time I went, two years ago, it was my first time leaving the country besides Canada. It was also my introduction to travel as I had just committed to going abroad from the entirety of my junior year. Needless to say, it was out of my comfort zone, I was terrified and yet excited all at the same time. It was a one week trip during my spring break, and it was a blur. There was so much crammed into one week, that the days meshed together and it went by faster the I could believe. I came back excited to go abroad for a year, frustrated with my lack of language skills and nervous to see how I would handle the variety of living situations. Refer to my two previous blogs from abroad, and needless to say I loved every second of it. In fact, had a far harder time adjusting to being back home in the U.S then I felt I did in Morocco and India.
Fast forward, and I was asked if I wanted to be a student trip leader for the Ecuador trip that would now be taking place for two weeks, in January of my senior year. Of course I said yes. I missed being abroad and I missed traveling. I missed the different paces of life, the different cultures, and in the case, I was especially excited with the chance to explore a country I had actually already been to. My Spanish skills (which were questionable in the first place) had not be utilized since my sophomore year; so needless to say I was a bit concerned about communication. Overall, I would say I surprised by self with my ability to understand the majority of what was being said to me. I would them butcher my way through a sentence, realizing I had forgotten the majority of my verb conjugating abilities. The two weeks there were beyond fabulous and leaving was significantly harder than the last time. Last time, I had known that the trip would most likely be offered again my senior year, and this time, I have no guarantee of when I'll be able to go back. Going abroad has turned me soft, as I cried leaving there just as I cried leaving Morocco and India.
I take it as a sign though, that I have to go back. Both times I've gone, the planes haven't left on time. The first time, the flight got canceled almost 10 hours after it was supposed to take off. Some people spent an additional two days in Ecuador. This time, our red-eye flight that was supposed to leave at 1:00am, didn't get off the ground until 6:45am. And we were lucky it took off at all due to the fog and regulations about how long flight crew can be on a plane. We actually deboarded the plane and got ready to see when we would be able to get home again. All of the traveling I've done in the past two years, Ecuador is the only country that I physically have had problems leaving. Two times out of two. Like I said, I think it's a sign I need to get back there.
This blog, although it will be reflecting on experiences that have happened, will be to recap what we did on the trip, and to share photo's. After all, part of the trip was focused on photography, so there are definitely lots of photo's to be shared. I'm going to due entries in chunks, maybe split it up by every day or so of the trip, because again we did do a lot each day.
Fast forward, and I was asked if I wanted to be a student trip leader for the Ecuador trip that would now be taking place for two weeks, in January of my senior year. Of course I said yes. I missed being abroad and I missed traveling. I missed the different paces of life, the different cultures, and in the case, I was especially excited with the chance to explore a country I had actually already been to. My Spanish skills (which were questionable in the first place) had not be utilized since my sophomore year; so needless to say I was a bit concerned about communication. Overall, I would say I surprised by self with my ability to understand the majority of what was being said to me. I would them butcher my way through a sentence, realizing I had forgotten the majority of my verb conjugating abilities. The two weeks there were beyond fabulous and leaving was significantly harder than the last time. Last time, I had known that the trip would most likely be offered again my senior year, and this time, I have no guarantee of when I'll be able to go back. Going abroad has turned me soft, as I cried leaving there just as I cried leaving Morocco and India.
I take it as a sign though, that I have to go back. Both times I've gone, the planes haven't left on time. The first time, the flight got canceled almost 10 hours after it was supposed to take off. Some people spent an additional two days in Ecuador. This time, our red-eye flight that was supposed to leave at 1:00am, didn't get off the ground until 6:45am. And we were lucky it took off at all due to the fog and regulations about how long flight crew can be on a plane. We actually deboarded the plane and got ready to see when we would be able to get home again. All of the traveling I've done in the past two years, Ecuador is the only country that I physically have had problems leaving. Two times out of two. Like I said, I think it's a sign I need to get back there.
This blog, although it will be reflecting on experiences that have happened, will be to recap what we did on the trip, and to share photo's. After all, part of the trip was focused on photography, so there are definitely lots of photo's to be shared. I'm going to due entries in chunks, maybe split it up by every day or so of the trip, because again we did do a lot each day.
Welcome back, to the city in the clouds, Over 13,000 feet above sea level.
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