There are a few things I know.
1. My ability to speak Spanish barely exists and it would be safe to say it is atrocious. 2. I love my summer vacation days at home with Yuki that start around noon followed with seeing how long I can keep Aaron up at night watching TV with me. (He gets up at 5:30 and I can usually squeeze an extra hour of company out of him during the summer.) 3. I have a hard time turning down an opportunity for adventure. When my dear friend Alisa told me about a colleague she met through work who runs a home for displaced youth in Ecuador with his wife, I knew I had to learn more. After some research to see if the opportunity to volunteer did in fact exist, it quickly became apparent that I was very interested. After a number of meetings with Kacey and Marco Toctaquiza of Hope House they assured me that my teaching knowledge combined by my willingness to try anything would be beneficial to their organization. I knew I needed to bring this crazy idea to The Boss. After many discussions and the pleading of both cases, my husband generously saw beyond his own hesitations: the inconvenience my absence is sure to cause and genuine sadness of missing me Aaron told me he supported this crazy idea. He wasn’t a fan, but he supported my genuine desire to knock off item #1 off of my bucket list. Then one morning under the watchful eyes of two of my fifth grade girls who double checked dates, time and cities from over my shoulder, I bought a plane ticket to Ecuador. And I was eager to trade my lazy summer days with Yuki for the challenge of improving my Spanish.
So I’m currently sitting in Miami International Airport and will be arriving in Quito, Ecuador about five hours from now. I’ll be weaseling my way into the family at Hope House with my Spanish vocabulary of maybe 120 words (which I can confidently say that at best 20% of those I might use properly). I’m going with the hope that they’ll find my hand gestures, fledgling Spanish all the while laughing at myself acceptable if not amusing.
Oh, and I don’t blog either and I don’t read ’em unless they’re football related. Maybe I’m only going to share my adventures with the Internet and the watchful eye of the US Government (sorry Snowden, Ecuador only accepts the cool kids) but I’m going to give this blogging gig a shot. Just like the adventure that is ahead of me and all other new opportunities that are presented to me, I will try anything twice.
To say I’m nervous is an understatement, but like I’ve told my family, friends and students #4 it’s moments like these that I believe you feel the most alive. I have a vague idea of what to expect but certainly I have no idea what I’m in for.
My Return to Ecuador 