What A Wonderful World

Wow, it’s hard to believe the last time I wrote I was still in Quito. I miss Quito so much! I just wrote my host parents an email, and that made me miss them. It is great to be back, but I wish Quito was easier to get to. I had more fun my five months in Ecuador than I’ve ever had in one summer here. But, let me back track a little about my arrival into the good old USA.
I left for the Quito airport at the ungodly hour of about 4:30 am. My flight left right around the time it was supposed to, which was about 6:45. Marie and I lucked out because there was a Colombian next to us, so we could still speak Spanish if we wanted to. He spoke English to us, because he needed to practice, however. As soon as we landed in Houston, we could feel the hostility. Now, before we left Quito, we got thoroughly drug searched. Our bags and carry ons were checked completely for secret compartments or false things that we could have taken drugs out of the country with. The whole time, the INTERPOL officers were nice to us, making small talk about our stay in Ecuador. They were so nice and patient with us while we found our bags, while we took our time getting back into the airport, etc. In Houston, it was all rushed. This woman must have yelled the same thing about 100 times while I was in line. And what annoyed me was that some of these people didn’t speak English, so what good is people who yell if the person you are yelling at doesn’t understand you? Oh, and it was funny too because the CBP officer was asking us how to say liquor in Spanish. I guess you had to be there, but we thought it was funny because as a CBP officer, he should have known that. Anyway, once we cleared customs, we decided we wanted to eat something. This almost gave us a heart attack. My lunch at Popeye’s was about $8. I’ll tell you, that was a blow to my wallet after being spoiled on $2 lunch in Quito. After eating, I hung out with Marie until she boarded for Miami. After she was on her plane, I waited at my gate for my flight, which wouldn’t leave for a few more hours (I had a 5 hour layover). During this time, I met a nice Venezuelen couple who was also going to Boston. I was so excited because I got to practice my Spanish! The flight to Boston was typical, nothing exciting happened. It felt weird being back in my homeland once I did land.
Since arriving back, I’ve mostly been substitute teaching. I work, go to the gym, and hang out at home. A few days, I’ve hung out with Lindsey, but the rest I spent at home. What a boring life. If I was in Ecuador, I would have such a better life. I would be at the bars on Friday nights, having fun with my friends, and during the day I would walk around the beautiful city of Quito. Now, if I want to go anywhere I need to drive there, which of course costs money that I don’t want to pay. I’m just not the same since I’ve come back, mainly because I am still used to the life I had for five months. When I tell people I dislike the life I have here in the US, they don’t seem to understand. I guess you have to have lived in another country to truly be able to understand.
I can’t wait until I graduate, so that I can return to Quito. I miss my host parents, I really feel like they were family to me during my time there.

It´s hard to believe my days here are winding down. KK leaves on Saturday, followed by me and Marie on Weds, and Braulio on Friday. Tomorrow is our last day of class, but of course that means that I have two oral presentations to do. I also want to pack this weekend as well.
I don´t really remember when the last time I wrote was, but I´m sure nothing interesting has happened since then or else I would have written about it. KK´s friend Alex (female) is here visiting and we´ve been having fun. We went to our last ladies night yesterday, which I will miss. Tomorrow night, we plan on having a huge going away party for all of us, which should be exciting. I will probably update in the next few days, because Im sure more interesting things will happen.