Then I packed all my things into my car and was on the road once again. This time just 3 hours South to Atlanta where I spent a day with Emily before leaving my car and bidding adieu to the U S of A and flying South to Ecuador. I spent 6 fabulous weeks with living with Ivo and Luisfer, going for morning runs through Parque Carolina, eating a freshly picked 5 cent banana and freshly baked 20 cent empanada de queso every morning, traveling to various parts of the country for hikes, bike rides, family visits, soccer games. And spent one fantastic week showing this amazing country off to my mom.
Really, there are no words to properly describe how awesome it was to have my mom there. My mom is NOT one to travel on her on. From one city to the next. Much less another country. So I really didnt fully believe she was coming until she was sitting on her Quito-bound flight in the airport in Atlanta. I didnt give her much time to adjust to the 10,000 foot gain in altitude before taking her up another 1000 feet to get a sweeping view of the city of Quito and the mountains surrounding it. I took her all around the Historic Center, climbed with her to the top of the most beautiful church in the city, and wined and dined her on some super tasty Ecuadorian treats. She experienced travel Ecua-style when we took the public bus to the highlands town of Otavalo - and was literally thrown across the bus when she didnt get to her seat fast enough and the bus took off flying around a curve - poor mom! We went for a beautiful, yet challenging, hike to a waterfall, ate some delicious home cooked meals at the most beautiful hacienda way up in the hills where we were the only guests and treated like queens, and visited the local artisan market where she got to ooh and aah over the beautiful artwork (and treat herself to a few things)! We then headed to the cloud forest where - in true Ecua-fashion - one of the roads leading to our hosteria was washed out so we had to scootch our way across bamboo poles lain over a rushing creek while several men held our hands to keep us from falling and then passed our bags to us so we could climb into a truck full of manure waiting to take us on the rest of the way. Once we got there, we were able to breath a poop-free sigh of relief, go for long hikes amongst the butterflies and orchids, and spend Thanksgiving morning meditating and reflecting beside a beautiful river near our lodge. Another public bus ride led us back to Quito where mom got to see the school where both Annelle and I studied, walk in my favorite city park, and eat a delicious Thanksgiving meal with Luisfer and Ivo. We had a grand old time for sure!
And after 6 weeks of speaking Spanish, daily power outages, eating yummy Ecuadorian foods (empanadas de queso, pan de yuca, arroz con menestra, quimbolitos, oh my!), and traveling near and far to hike, bike, eat, drink, and breathe the land and culture, I boarded an ATL-bound plane (24 hours later than planned due to a mess-up on my part...long, dramatic story...) and made my way back to my dad's house in Jackson, MS where I was welcomed by a tiny puffball of energy - my sister's new yorkie! After the shock of a new creature (my mom calls her her first "grandchild"), I dumped my bags, ate a big bowl of Peanut Butter Puffins, and settled back into the creature comforts of life in dad's house. December and early January brought lots and lots of quality family time in Jackson with dad and Susan, Oxford with my mom, and New Orleans for New Years with Annelle, dad, and Susan. I really enjoyed being back home, back with my family. Last year, I spent the holidays in Argentina with Vanina's family, but it was nice to be back together with my family this year!
And once everyone went back to their respective homes and jobs, I flew to Texas for a Rotary Ambassadorial conference where I got to meet a number of other people who won the same scholarship as I who will be flying all over the world in the next year to study everything from economics in Australia to Arabic in Egypt. I also got the added pleasure of spending a couple of days with Elsa and one beautiful, yet cooold, afternoon walking through downtown Austin with Abby and Liz. texas is suppose to be hot. And if not hot, at least WARM, but while it was 80 degrees in Jan last year, it was a whopping 19 degrees this year. Brrrrrrr:(.
And from cold Texas, I went to colder Chicago where I was given a very very WARM welcome by the entire Bangert clan and spent 6 days reconnecting with old friends and co-workers. It was good to see Rene and Molly as it had been nearly a year and a half since I had seen two of the most important people in my life and I had some good much needed life talks with Rene, Molly, Blanca, and Holley. So cheers for having amazing friends all over the place!
And now I am back in Mississippi spending some time with my mom before taking one more trip (for the moment) this time to Utah for some skiing with the family and catch-up time with old friends and co-workers. Oh, and in the meantime, while I am thoroughly enjoying having the time and freedom to visit so many people, I am madly stressed as I try to figure out what to do with my life....more on that later! VIVA!
