Im NOT Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Luisfer, Ivo, and I high above Quito:)!

Buenos días desde Quito, Ecuador!!! Im STILL here! And so very very very happy:). This whole grand aventura of mine was to come to a grinding halt this morning at 8:20AM when I was to board a Miami, USA bound plane here in Quito and, thus, I am supposed to be on a jet plane headed for Jacktown, Mississippi, USA at this very moment. BUT plans changed. I was not ready to say goodbye. I am not sure I will really EVER be ready to say goodbye to this lifestyle of mine. Even more so now that I am in Quito where I have been off and on for the last two weeks living with Ivo and Luisfer. It feels so darn homey here. I have a room, a mattress, sheets, drawers to put my clothes in, even my own "females only" bathroom - even though somehow it is also the males teeth brushing, hair-prepping bathroom, too! And I really, honestly LOVE being with the two of them. We were such good friends the year I lived here and it's fun to be with people who know me so well after months and months and months of meeting, greeting, and moving on. It is true that I have made some WONDERFUL friends, and spent enough time with some people that they know me pretty well at this point, but there is something so delightfully refreshing about being with people with whom you have an honest-to-goodness history. So as I soaked all this in the last two weeks, and made side trips to Otavalo to bike, hike, dance, and even try the fabled Ayahuasca - which didnt do a darn thing to us, by the way - as well as Mindo to raft, swing across a deep ravine on a zip line like Tarzan, jump off waterfalls and eat grilled choclo, I decided I could not bear to leave. I broke the news - gently - to Poppa T and mom. But, honestly, neither was terribly surprised. We Glenn/Lanell Taylor children tend to lean more towards extending our wanderings as opposed to looking forward to returning to the homestead. So here I am! For two more weeks....theoretically.

In the last week, I have gone for some wonderful runs in Parque La Carolina, spent 2 days celebrating Inti Raymi - the festival of the sun - in Otavalo where local indigenous groups danced around in circles while wearing Halloween-like masks and eating corn and guinea pig in celebration of the harvest. Luisfer joined me on a humorous search for Ayahuasca that involved knocking on random doors in a town of 2000 people and being told that the drink could kill us, but for a mere $60 the townspeople would be happy to cleanse of us all the evil inside and throw in a little good luck for $20 more! Who knew it would be so hard to find the fabled drink in this country! We made friends with a local family who finally took us to a local shaman's house where instead of seeing my own visions, I relinquished myself to paying $20 to let the shaman see visions of what was in my heart (her response? many people envy me and I am healthy...."anything else?" i asked? "Any evil?" "Negative thoughts?"....not a thing, according to her....hmm...I would LIKE to believe that that is all that is there, but Im pretty sure I am not chock full of goodness...). She then "Spiritually cleansed" me which in theory was refreshing, but when she told me I could not bathe or eat anything with onions for two days, I found myself struggling to decide whether it was worth walking around covered in dirt for two days so that people would stop envying me...In the end, I caved and bathed after 24 hours:(.


Rafting in Mindo

The next adventure involved a trip to Mindo - a beautiful town in the cloud forest - with Ivo, Luisfer, Victor, and a guy from Sweden on Saturday. Neither Ivo nor Luisfer had ever been to Mindo, much less taken part in any of the activities I had planned for the day - Ecuarafting (i.e. 7 tubes tied together to go down the river), as well as a hike to a nearby waterfall. These are CITY boys, after all! And while they moaned and complained, at first, in the end, they were laughing and loving it - albeit huffing and puffing as the hike involved a STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP climb! We also had a bonus adventure of riding two long zip lines over a deep canyon and, for Ivo, jumping 36 feet off a waterfall into the swirling waters of the river below. It was a good, adventurous day, and we all returned to Quito EXHAUSTED! While plans to go out dancing were underway, we were all in bed by 10:30....so much for being night owls!


Hiking in the Cloud Forest with the Boys!!

Sunday, Luisfer, Ivo, and I stayed in Quito to do some exploring around the city. It was a rainy, rather dreary day, but we rode the Teleferico - a gondola that carries you 4000 feet into the surrounding mountains - to catch a view of the city below and hike for a little bit before the rains came. Afterwards, we adjourned to the arcade to play silly kiddie games and win a few prizes.

But, BY FAR, my favorite part of the last few days has been around 10:30, when the three of us pile onto my mattress on the floor in my bedroom and watch cheesy romantic comedies on Ivo's laptop. It feels like family. And I will surely miss it. For now, I will revel in the opportunity for two more weeks with my Ecua-family. VIVA!