The End of the Beginning

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I am beginning the end of my stay here in Ecuador. There has been true beauty in people I have met and the places I have seen. A general concern for this region has emmulated from my experiences and somehow I know I will be back here.

I spent my week attending classes in the morning and volunteering with children in the outskirts of the city. I spent time drawing with the younger girls, teaching mathematics to four boys ages 10-12, and just talking with whoever approached me. As soon as I arrived my second day, I had a girl playing with my earings and hair, both of my hands had been taken, and another girl was playing with my necklace. They proceeded to ask me everyone in my family´s name and age with genuine curiosity. People here have trouble pronouncing my name, even if I say Air-eeen. One guy who spoke a bit of english pointed to his ear and said "earring?"

Volunteering enabled me to see parts of the city that I wouldn´t have otherwise seen. It can be really easy to stay in the city center and only see the parts of town that are clean and touristy, but my experience feels so much more whole knowing the reality of city life (in any city but so much more extreme here). Even in San Diego, it wasn´t until I volunteered with a pan-African community of children that I realized that part of town existed (and that took me until my 4th year there).

Today I took a tram up the side of a mountain with a large group of friends. Once we reached the top we were over 4,000 meters high and we had an amazing view of the city. We hiked for a few hours, trying to breath in the limited amount of oxygen and manage to climp another 600 meters to see an even more spectacular view. I really enjoyed getting outside with fresh air and breath-taking views (no pun intended).

I leave for Peru by bus Wednesday night. I should arrive in Lima by Friday and fly to Cusco early Sunday morning. I cannot say I´m looking forward to a 30 hr bus ride nor my time in Lima, but I am entirely curious about Cusco and Peru. i am just about ready to live in another city/country.

Besos.

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Comments

[Will Christiansen]

Whole Person
Wow you are so well rounded sounding....aughgh. its way later here. Cusco sounds like its gonna be fun...... because the name... sounds fun. Okay, bye bye. -Will