I still have a few days left of this journey, but I feel as though my adventures are pretty much over.
I have entered that place again - the "last few days of travel" place of remembering and missing people.
The last week is always hard. You know your trip is ending so you want to be home now - to skip the goodbyes and seemingly endless travel days, but thanks to the crazy awesome people you have met and the things you have experienced, you wish the journey could last forever.
The last week has flown by, but these last two days are dragging on, and now I am killing time, wishing my flight was today instead of tomorrow.
My last few days in Quito were amazing, like every unbelievable day in Ecuador. As the days brought me ever closer to my Sunday evening flight, my friends from the hostel made it even harder to leave.
The weekend was spent walking around the city, watching crazy amazing Futbol games, making food together, and just watching people in the incredible parks.
Futbol in Latin America is a must-experience activity. The energy at the game, the chanting and songs, and the way the crowd goes wild as our team scores a goal is indescribable.
After the games, my hostel buddies and I walk back through Carolina park - one of my favorites.
Sunday, as I hurried back after the game to get ready to fly away, I tried to memorize everything.
The vendors along the paths, the hundreds of teens and kids participating in Futbol matches, the families relaxing under trees and taking walks together...
The salsa music playing as people danced, the breathtaking mountains in the distance, the mounted police, the river with carefree paddle boaters...everything.
Way too soon, my walk through the huge park ended, and I hurried to say goodbye to my friends and catch a flight. My flight from Quito to Bogota went quickly. I met a nice guy from Ecuador in the airport and we traveled together for the day, him teaching me Spanish while I taught him English.
Our first day in Bogota, we took the teleferico cable cars up over the unbelievable immense city, and I was amazed at how much it made me miss Quito.
Bogota is just a city. A big, busy city, lacking in cleanliness and parks and overrun by construction and pigeons.
Perhaps it is a good place to sit and process while I prepare to go home - its lack of enchantment and overly friendly people is keeping me from falling in love with yet another place.
My Ecuadorian friend Felipe and I were taking about the cities, comparing them. We decided that Bogota was just big and ugly, almost having a strange, dark vibe, while in Quito, everyone is happy and filled with joy. Everyone says hi, everyone smiles, and just spends time enjoying being alive.
So now, sitting in this hostel in the middle of a over-stimulating city in which I have gotten lost countless times and can barely breathe because of the bus fumes, I am left with nothing to do but write, to summarize this incredible journey, to bring some closure to my aching heart, even though I know I will never stop missing the people and adventure, and I will always desire to come back.
It's strange...everything about this moment is taking me back to my last days in Guatemala. The quietness with cars rumbling in the distance, the cloudy sky, the ache in my soul from being in a place I'd rather not be, and even the burnt orange and rusty red color of the building outside.
It's hard to believe that this is the same journey that I was on nearly two months ago, when I got to experience teaching English to beautiful kids.
It's also hard to believe that the ache in my heart from saying goodbye to the kids weeks ago has not faded one bit.
Colombia...from the killer sun, white sand, and first experience with clear blue water on Playa Blanca...
The disgusting yet somehow satisfying mud volcano...
...to teaching in Cartagena, meeting incredible volunteers, and dancing at Carnaval in Barranquilla...
To Pablo's domain in Medellin where the people were way too dressy for me and they serve strange hot cocoa and queso...
Those palm trees in Selento...
And then...the 15 hour to Ecuador, that while at the time seemed crazy, it turned out to be one of the best, introducing me to some of the most incredible people, the most beautiful places, and unique experiences.
The last few days of the journey, it's hard to be all here. Everything makes me sad, knowing that it's almost time to leave.
The upbeat music that plays everywhere, the clouds floating among the mountains, and even the friendly people remind me it is time to say goodbye.
But unlike my first few trips when the thought of leaving was so unbearable, this time it is just a little easier, because I know I will be back.
Sure, the experiences will be different, the travelers will be different, but the level of adventure will be the same, and there will be new people to meet, new crazy adventures to be had.
Just a few short months. Until then, home sweet home.
Thanks for everything, my friends.
Thanks for everything, my friends.
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