I've been on this #100DaysofHappiness bandwagon for 57 days now, keeping track privately rather than posting on social media and what I've noticed about it has made me even happier. Instead of thinking hard to come up with one new thing each day, it's actually harder to choose just one of the many things that make me happy. I started it as a practice to keep myself conscious of the positive one can find in any situation, even on hard days in this crazy life I'm living, but now it's become a kind of happy journal that I look back at and smile about. Happy memories from 50 days ago making me even happier today. It's like this crazy, never-ending, happy cycle and I love it!
Lately, Thursdays are my favorite days because I get to hold hands with kids. I hope you understand that I'm not a weirdo without me having to say #nopedo... I started working at an elementary school in the "campo" (the countryside, the farming communities on the outskirts of town) and the kids are so great! It's a weird little English Club that includes any of the kids in the school who wanted to join so half of them are babies, about 6 years-old, and the other half are older, between 10-14. The classes are really mixed anyway because kids are often taken out of school for years at a time if their parents need them to work, but this is definitely a challenge, trying to find activities all the kids will be interested in. But my favorite part is the walk home when the kids walk with me to town and ask me tons of questions.
The girl on the left is Maria and the girl on the right is also Maria and they hold my hands for about 30 minutes every Thursday. Little Maria, the baby, talks and talks and talks the whole way and I don't understand a single word she's saying. I asked Big Maria if she's speaking Spanish and she said she's not sure, it might be Kichwa but she doesn't understand either. Big Maria asks me intelligible questions and always says "mmm" after every answer. The boys hardly ever say a word. The whole thing is ridiculously adorable and makes my day every week.
I missed a couple Thursdays recently though because I went to Peru! The whole trip was amazing and I loved seeing another side of South America. Many things were similar to Ecuador but it was interesting for me to compare the two and find some differences. The highlights: El Circuito Magico del Agua water park in Lima, sandboarding and watching a desert sunset in Huacachina, and Starbucks in Cuzco. But the mind-blowing, life-changing aspect of the trip was the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. It was, by far, the most physically demanding thing I've ever attempted and I was so very proud of myself for accomplishing it... like a BOSS! We hiked about 40 miles in 4 days, then climbed a mountain and took the long way back in the ruins and I hardly complained! The last night before flying back to Quito, however, every step I took was filled with pain and I was sure I was going to vomit, making several trips to the bathroom throughout the night. I think it was just a product of exhaustion though because I got back to Ecuador and my host mom took care of me and after 13 hours of sleep and some of her amazing chicken soup, I was right as rain again. Here's some photo evidence:
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| El Circuito Magico del Agua |
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| Salkantay Trek- it doesn't even look real, it's so beautiful! |
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| Sand angel |
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| Mystical | Machu Picchu |
It was truly an incredible trip and it temporarily satisfied the travel bug that I've had for awhile.
I've also been spending my weekends working, giving English methodology classes to teachers in different cities. These workshops are a blessing and a curse because they make me feel super productive, the teachers really appreciate the help, and I get to spend time with some of my favorite volunteers that I don't get to see often, but I also have to set an alarm on the weekends... sigh.
So I've been staying super busy here at the end of 2014 and now the countdown has come to 5 days until I'll be in America's Finest City! Some teachers said "Merry Christmas" to me for the first time this year and I instantly got giddy thinking about how close it is! I'm looking forward to SO many things in SD, but most of all, the love! I can't wait for hugs and chats and catch-ups with family and friends, and stuffing my face of course. It'll probably look/sound something like this:
I'll try to write a New Years post because 2014 has been one for the books.
See you soon, dear friends! :)
