La Despedida

It happened. We left Cuenca this morning. Today has been weird. Actually, this last week was kinda odd. It is finally hitting me that we are really leaving. It feels like we just got here though. I so clearly remember the very first day in Ecuador and then the very first day we got to Cuenca. As they say here, el tiempo vuelva. And it did, it really did.

Last Thursday was my birthday and I had a lovely day. I went to lunch and fondue with my friends here. We just talked, laughed, hung out, and walked around the city. I am officially not a teenager anymore. That is strange to think about. Although the day was very fun, I wished I could have been home to celebrate with family and friends. I definitely was missing them.

Then on Friday we had our last couple of classes and finals. After school, I went home, ate lunch, and packed up all of my things. I had been procrastinating all week so I had a good amount of work to do. We can only check one bag weighing 50lbs. So that was interesting, trying to play the game of shifting around things between my checked and carry-on bag. I think I am good though. We will see tomorrow. That night we had our despedida dinner, which was a farewell dinner with all of us in the program, our coordinators, and all other staff. We ate good food, watched a photo slideshow that one girl made, and started our goodbyes. We have seen these dinners for months now as other groups have come and gone. But it was finally our turn. Then this morning I finished my final preparations, said goodbye to my family, and got dropped off at school.

One of the biggest (and only) disappointments I had while here was the lack of relationship I had with my host family. I was not very close with them. At all. I was left home alone a lot. Even when they were home, they were always in their rooms watching TV and on their computers. I did not have much of any interaction with them. They were nice to me, but it did not ever seem like they really cared. So leaving was not hard. What was hard was saying goodbye to the other coordinators and friends that we made from other programs. I cried (big surprise, I know). It is sad leaving a place that I have called home for the last four months. I will miss the city, the friends I have made, and the amazing adventure this has been.

We made the ride to Guayaquil this afternoon. We have made this drive plenty of times now. It is right through the windy mountains of Cajas National Park so I took Dramamine and slept most of the way. We got to the hotel about four hours later, dropped off our stuff, and went on a city tour. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador. We walked around for a couple of hours as our tour guide explained to us a little about the history of the buildings and different things we saw. I loved walking around the boardwalk and the different parks. We then ate dinner, and now I am back at the hotel, writing this post.

Tomorrow morning we wake up at 3AM. Yeah, sucks to suck. It will not be a fun wakeup call. We will be leaving the hotel, going to the airport, and then flying to Peru! We have finally arrived at our end of the semester trip. I am so excited! So I must go now to try to get in a couple of hours of sleep. I will be posting again soon. Chao!