After traveling more than 3,200 miles to Guayaquil and then Cuenca, I'm still in the same time zone as when I started! Right now I'm at an Internet cafe on my block (80 cents per hour!), which didn't exist when I was here before. I've only been in Ecuador for 18 hours, but it just as easily could have been a week. So here's the update...
I arrived in Guayaquil yesterday at 1 in the morning. I had a good laugh when I filled out the customs form. One line read Occupation ________. My occupation?! Well, shoot. That's why I'm able to be here-because I don't have an occupation! I considered writing 'traveler' but didn't think that would fly with the customs agent. I thought about writing 'student' (we're all students in a sense, right?) but worried that the agent would ask me more questions. After much thought, I wrote 'teacher.' Of course, when I ended up going through customs, she didn't even glance at that line!
The owner of the hostel I stayed at was waiting for me in the airport. We drove about 15 minutes to the hostel, which was actually her family's huge house. I was planning on taking the bus to the main bus terminal the next morning (well, later that same morning to be exact), but she offered to drive me because I have two suitcases. So I slept about 4 hours, had breakfast with a couple from England, and went to the bus terminal.
Right when we got to the bus terminal, a man came over and started to take my bags (presumably in order to get a tip) and bring me to a specific bus company. I tried to say no thank you, but he kept walking beside me. Just when I started to feel like a smart traveler for saying no, I saw three flights of stairs in front of me. I tried to carry my bags but to no avail. I can't normally lift 100 pounds, much less up three flights of stairs! Battle over. I let him carry my bags, and he ended up bringing me to the bus company Semeria (there are many that go to Cuenca). Ironically, that was the company I was intending to use in the first place. He told the ticket agent where I was going, I tipped him, and off he went.
I was feeling very flustered because I had been trying to be a smart traveler, but in the process I had refused genuine help. Oh well, you never know. Better to offend someone than to have your bags stolen. After spending a total of 7 hours in Guayaquil I took the bus to Cuenca. For all the winding through the mountains we did, you would have thought we were going in a circle! But we made it in good time, and my host family's nephew picked me up at the bus terminal.
I was expecting to feel disbelief and/or amazement upon returning to Cuenca and seeing my family, but I felt neither. It felt completely normal, like I had just been here and seen everyone last week instead of 3 1/2 years ago. I thought it would feel crazy to be back, but I just slid right in. It was odd because I had been anticipating this for so long (since I left Ecuador the last time) that I expected to feel in awe at being here again. But it just feels so darn familiar and normal! Don't get me wrong. I'm beyond excited to be here. It was just a little surprising that it didn't feel surprising to be back. I guess that's good.
It's wonderful to see my family again. For those of you who didn't get the run-down last time I was here, my family is all women between the ages of 55 and 86: Maria Elena (who I consider my host mom), her sister Lupe, their mother Mama, and Teresa (a darling old woman less than 4 feet tall who has worked for the family since she was 15). They run a variety store at the front of their house and bake bread to sell in the store. I think I have seen just about every member of the extended family today! Two of my cousins, Mateo and Claudia, came over this morning. Mateo was so little before, and now he's turning 7! And Claudia was just a baby! (she's 5 now). They were a tiny bit shy at first (I know Claudia couldn't have remembered me), but they warmed up soon. We spent the morning playing invented balloon games.
In case you're wondering, my Spanish is a little better than I thought. I have fallen back into the sing-song sound of Cuencan Spanish. I can tell I'm making mistakes, but I don't have time to think of the exact verb forms because I'm just trying to speak. At least I know I'm making mistakes! Being here is good practice for Chile, where apparently they speak very fast with a rarely-used verb form.
In the afternoon, Digna came over. She makes tamales for my family to sell in their store and was working for them when I was here the first time, the summer before studying abroad (as a sidenote, I dated her son Israel). She took me to see Israel and one of his sisters, Marisol, in the Kinko's-type store that he now manages. Again, I was expecting it to feel wild that I hadn't seen them in so long, but it was as if only a few months had passed. We caught up like old friends. Digna invited me to spend the night at her house sometime this week, so hopefully that will work out!
Between extended family, neighbors, and Digna's family, I have seen 21 people that I know today! That's a great feeling to travel to another country, immediately fall into place, and feel a part of the city. I am thinking that one week in Cuenca is going to be way too short. I chose one week because I wanted to be in Chile for Independence Day (Sept 18th) and Yom Kippur, and now it's too expensive to change my flight and hostel. Hindsight is 20/20, right? I'll just have to make the most of this week!
Well, I was thinking initially that I would just write a few anecdotes in this blog, but I appear to be writing everything that has happened so far! I didn't intend for it to be so long, so thanks for sticking with me as I get all my thoughts out. Again, if you want to get an email notification when I update the blog, just sign up at the top right. Thanks for reading! Until next time, buenas noches...
