Back in the States

After returning from my weekend in Banos, I had one last week in Yunguilla. Two more Danish volunteers arrived, so there were four of us volunteers total working on signs for the trails. The community hosted a small going away party for me on Friday night, which was nice, and then on Saturday, there was a wedding! Since most people in the community nowadays only get civilly married, this was the first real wedding in seven years! Of course, we celebrated accordingly. While I didn't go to the ceremony at the church (I didn't want to embarrass my non-Catholic self and also didn't have anything nice to wear), the party was great! We didn't get served food (soup, huge portions of both chicken and pork, potatoes and corn) until about 9:30pm and the party went until not just the wee hours of the morning, but the actual morning itself. I went home around 5am, but when I woke up at 9am to pack and get ready to leave for Quito, the dad informed me that there were still people partying down in the communal house!

I arrived in Quito in the early afternoon that Sunday and after eating and napping for a bit in a hostal, took a taxi to the airport at 7pm for my 9pm flight. My flight was from Quito to Guayaquil, Guayaquil to Miami (overnight) and then Miami to Indianapolis. I arrived in Indy at 11:30am on Monday and was greeted by my Dad and Gabe! Even though I had hardly slept in the previous 48 hours, I focused on unpacking and getting all of my clothes washed (in a real washing machine!) upon getting home. My Mom listened to my requests and made turkey and stuffing for my first dinner--I'd missed turkey so much!

It's been quite an adjustment being back in the States. Firstly, while Zionsville is pretty, it's not the same as waking up and seeing gorgeous green mountains everyday. There's also obviously the huge contrasts in food, wealth and lifestyle + the language difference. I already miss Ecuador a lot, but I know I'll be back there eventually, whether it's next semester (I plan on taking the Spring 2012 semester off from college and traveling because I don't need the credit) or sometime in the future for a vacation. I could even see myself living there one day--the people are extremely friendly (except for the one man who stole my camera) and the landscape is the most beautiful I've ever seen (+ it's the most biodiverse country in the world!).

 Goodbye, Quito!

 My family (Angelita and Diogenes) at my going away party--smiling for pictures is apparently not an Ecuadorian thing...

 Yunguilla

 Cotopaxi volcano on the bus ride back to Quito from Banos

 I miss this view

 Full moon over the mountains on the way back to Yunguilla from San Antonio 

(I went to the doctor for my cough--I can now check "going to the doctor in another country" off my list!)

 Clouds rolling in during the afternoon

On the path from the house down to the main road

Thanks to everyone who read my blog over the past two months--I hope you've enjoyed it! I'll be posting my pictures to Facebook tomorrow, so let me know if you're not on Facebook and would like me to send you the link so you can see them! xoxo