Life at Latitude 3

One day, I’m swimming with penguins in the Galapagos, and the next thing I know, I’m watching the mailman shovel his car out of the snow, because he got stuck trying to pull up to our mailbox.  Okay, a few things happened in between.

It seems so fitting that my last 6 days in Ecuador will be unforgettable.  For one thing, walking could be excrutiating, thanks to my bout with seasickness on the way back from Isla Bartolome.  I had no idea that vomiting so much and so violently could strain a back muscle, but that’s exactly what I did.  Friends told me that I should just relax, but that was clearly out of the question – it was my final week in Cuenca.  I had goodbyes to say, loose ends to tie, things to see for the last time, etc etc.

I’m not one of those people who dread or avoid saying goodbye.  There were certain people in Cuenca that I wanted and needed to say goodbye to – to thank them for being a wonderful part of my Cuenca life.  When I went to say goodbye to my tomato woman, I found out that she had a some kidney problems, and wouldn’t be back to work for a month.  Her daughter told me if I gave her mom my phone number, she’d call me, and sure enough, she did.  This woman, who’d sold me pounds and pounds of tomatoes and other fresh produce, who never knew my name and never told me her name, called me so that we could say goodbye to each other.  When I went to say goodbye to Luis, he hugged me like a father would hug his daughter.  And even after that, he called me, just to say goodbye one last time.  When I went to say goodbye to Piedad, the sweet waitress at Akelarre, I could tell she meant it when she said, No te vayas!  I had to cut that goodbye a bit short because I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. And when I went to say goodbye to Amigo, he gave me one of the sweetest hugs, and said some really sincere and kind things.  I will never forget any of those goodbyes.

By midweek I felt very tired.  In part from my back pain, which could be fine one minute, but flare viciously the next, in part from having to say all my goodbyes, and in part from just making sure I hadn’t forgotten something important.

But finally, Sunday night came.  After saying goodbye to Pato, Brian walked with me down to the corner of Padre Aguirre and Calle Larga to hail a taxi.  We looked up to see globitos floating silently into the night sky.  What a perfect last thing to see in Cuenca.  Brian gave me a good send-off hug, and then the taxi whisked me away.

I had the most amazing travel karma on the way home. No long layovers, no delays, no lost baggage – absolutely everything went perfectly.  What a nice way to start my new life!

Back in the states, I was confronted with abnormally frigid temps, and a political onslaught brought on by the Iowa caucus.  It occurred to me that I’d never been in Iowa as a voting adult, and it was actually kind’ve fun to participate in something that I’d heard about my whole life.

I was shocked to learn that the Barnes and Nobles in Des Moines has an escalator, with no optional stairs.  And that neither Barnes and Nobles nor Borders sells the National Geographic in Spanish.

In the short time that I’ve been back, it’s been nice and comforting to spend relaxed time with my family.  In the last few years, every time I saw them there was always this underlying knowledge that my time with them would be brief, as I had so many people to see during my short visits home.  I’ve gotten to see my niece and nephew several times, already, and they’re really fun little guys.

I’m slowly being reminded of how much fun job-searching is.  In all seriousness, there are days.  Days when it’s discouraging, as I scour my favorite internet sites, only to find jobs that totally interest me, but for which I don’t totally qualify.  And on those days the silence of the phone can be unnerving and disheartening.  And then other days, like today, I find several positions that really excite me and raise my hope as I realize that my experience completely prepares me for the position.

Today was the first day since I’ve been home (nearly 3 wks) that I’ve really been able to go for a walk.  It’s either been way too cold, too gray and mush, too snowy, etc etc.  But today was a crisp blue day, temps in the high teens, just perfect for pulling on some wool and taking a stroll ’round the block.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 1:51 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.