Yesterday I was on my regular bus on la Calle Vargas back from Old Town working at the Tianguez. I had worked a few extra hours to help out one of the workers so I was leaving later in the afternoon/early evening. I don´t know if it was due to the hour, but my normal bus was amost empty, a pleasant surprise in comparison to the jam-packed busses I usually find. I had a seat to myself and as we drove out of old town and towards my neighborhood I realized how different I felt on this bus ride compared to my first ones almost two months ago.
Obviously I have had moments where I have wondered what the heck I am doing here, wouldn´t it have been easier simply to stay at St. Olaf for the semester? There I wouldn´t have to worry about walking alone, pick-pockets, travel logistics, etc... At first, it was very difficult for me to feel really at home here in Quito. This worried me because it was so unlike all of the stories I had heard from friends who had studied abroad. I had always heard about the "Amazing"-ness, nothing about the doubts/regrets. I have recently decided to stop comparing my experience to others I have heard because these experiences will not be the same. Quito may not (and should not) feel like my home in MN, but it does feel like my home for right now. I have had my doubts, but have yet to regret anything that has happend or I have done.
I´ve passed the halfway mark of the program, and as always I cannot believe how quickly everything is going. I hope to really soak in the aspects of this life that I cannot take with me in December, and I have 7 weeks left to do so. First on my list, Galapagos Islands.
Three days until I´m sea-bound. Yikes!
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