Sometimes, even when you have the best
vacation, it doesn’t change the foreboding and dread you have for the future.
This is how I felt about my placement, which I was to be in by the 9th
of January.
The week of December 27th to
January 4th, I spent on the coast in the fishing village of Puerto
Lopez. It was nice being back on the coast, with the heat and humidity, and the
village was beautiful and tranquil. I spent the first few days laying on the
beach in a hammock and eating excellent seafood. Then Sarah came on the 30th
and we spent the days hanging out on the beach and exploring the town. We made
a friend, a man named Bill from Alaska who comes to the coast of Ecuador for 6
months a year and works the other half, and shared piña coladas and beer with him. We spent New Year’s Eve eating a
delicious gourmet 6-course dinner (only $30) at the hotel, and then we moved to
the beach to enjoy lighting airborne lanterns and sending them off into the
sky, a gigantic bonfire, and many fireworks over the ocean. The next couple
days were spent much like the first few, but I did make it to Isla de la Plata
(or the “Poor Man’s Galapagos”, which is exactly the reason I went). It was
gorgeous, but desolate and hot, and there were huge amounts of Blue-footed
Boobies hanging around with their young. I also went snorkelling with colourful
fish and to my surprise, sea turtles, which was the best part of the trip;
their huge bodies swam gracefully under me as they glided through the water. We
left on the 4th to go back to Quito and because I did not want to
attempt the 10 hour bus ride back, I bought a flight, which is relatively cheap
in Canadian standards for the half hour flight at $80.
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| The beach in front of the hotel in Puerto Lopez |
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| Bonfire on New Years Eve |
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| Sea Turtle off Isla de la Plata |
The next few days in Quito consisted of me getting
my life in order to go into the field. We had one semi-useless class about what
we are supposed to do in the field, but an incredibly helpful meeting with my
program coordinator that alleviated a lot of my worries – my health being the
first and foremost, and the role I will be playing in the community coming in a
close second. I also spent a lot of time with my friends here, many of whom
were just as worried and scared as I was about leaving Quito to venture into
the unknown. We had to remind ourselves many times that this placement was the
reason we are going on this trip, and what we have been working toward for the
last 4 months. I also took much courage and solace from the book, “The
Alchemist”, a great and wise book that I have revisited on this trip.
Even though I have had many doubts about
myself this last week (and breaks in my resilience), I managed to get on a bus
on Monday morning for a four hour bus ride to the town of Archidona where I
took a short cab ride to my community, the small Amazonian village of
Rukullakta. Here begins the next phase in my life...
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| Sunset in Puerto Lopez |
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