i´m a bad blogger

While everyone and their dog (well, at least those I number among my friends and acquaintainces) appears to have begun a blog, I myself have been slacking miserably. What has the world come to? I, Adrienne, self-proclaimed internet aficionado, have failed in the witty musings department.

I don´t really have any cohesive thoughts right now, though I do have several ideas for longer pieces I want to work on — one on transportation in Ecuador (yes, it´s coming, Baird!), another on love and relationships in Latin America, and another on telenovelas (stay tuned!) Unfortunately, one dollar a minute internet doesn´t lend itself to polished writing, so those will wait until I have my trusty laptop in front of me, which will happen very soon. Monday, to be exact.

I leave Ecuador on Sunday night. It´s hard to believe that when I came here, it was the end of June and I had no conception of what life was like here. Now it´s July, and I have a routine and a certain knowledge of Quito (however rudimentary). I still have much more to learn, though, I know– a fact I am routinely reminded of by the most wonderful of happenstances.

Here is a brief rundown of what I have been up to in absence of my writing:

-Translating Raffi songs into Spanish for the children at the orphanage. They really, really like “I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas”. “Bananaphone” confused them, though they liked my reappropriation of mid-morning snacks as cellular devices.

- Playing soccer one afternoon with other Spanish students and professors. Some Ecuadorians joined in, which was intimidating, but made the whole thing much more interesting/authentic. As the afternoon light faded into the mountains above the expanse of the Parque Carolina, I scored a goal. It was nothing short of magical– an experience that almost made me understand why sports are so captivating for so much of the public.

- Climbing part of Cotopaxi, the second highest volcano in Ecuador. I made it up to a height of 14,400 feet, despite altitude sickness. I got to see real snow in July, and had the most terrifying experience of my life when I tried to bike down. More on this later.

- A free jazz concert in the Casa de la Musica. Any country in which there are free concerts in brand-new facilities deserves a visit.

- Reading a Sharon Creech picture book to the children in the orphanage. I ended up crying, as is to be expected of me if you spend any amount of time with me, because the story reminded me of childhood experiences fishing with my family. I was a little embarrassed to burst into tears in front of the children for seemingly no reason, but they were very good to me, asking me unjudgmentally the reason for my watery eyes. My explanation was sufficient, it seems, as the children then moved onto asking me to read another book. Before I had the chance to open the cover of the next story, though, Mayorie, an 8-year-old and one of my favorite children, came up to me, handed me a tissue, and told me I would see my family soon.

That really made me cry.

I´m going to miss Ecuador. Not everything about it, surely, but I know that, corny as it sounds, when I set foot on that plane on Sunday night, I will be leaving a little part of my heart behind here. All the more reason to come back, hopefully with friends and/or family in tow. We shall see.

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