Days 116 - 120: All things must come to an end

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Yesterday Forrest skipped class to kayak to Santa Fe from San Cristobal. He made it in 6:24 minutes, which is impressive because it’s 37 km of open ocean. He had a boat go with him for safety, and Shawna S. and Sam went on the boat too to watch and support him. I didn’t find out that he actually made it all the way until dinner when he showed up at Calypso with a rock from Santa Fe – Shawna had me thinking he didn’t make it at all.
Today was the last official day of class, and it was shorter than normal so that was nice. It’s strange to think that the semester has come to an end so quickly. After lunch – which was awful again – I went back to school to get work done but ended up taking a nap on the couches. I eventually went out to the beach to study, but let’s be serious, I never get anything done on the beach. I went back inside to try to study before our 5 o’clock final exam. The exam wasn’t too horrible, but it took me a while so I was late for my last dinner at home with my host parents. It was a nice dinner and they had a family friend come over too – Ines served bacalao (a white fish), rice, carrots, and wine. After dinner I showered and got ready to go out to Iguana Rock for a party. Katie, Lisa, and I went and got drinks for our last happy hour on the island, then got free shots of tequila from Iguana rock since we were leaving the island Saturday. Hernan, Charlotte’s host brother, was trying to get my drunk.
There was lots of dancing, I danced merengue with Jonathan which didn’t do my ankle any good, but it was still tons of fun and worth it in my opinion. Around 2 am I eventually left to go home and go to sleep. I ended up packing until 3 am because I wanted my last day on the island to be spent out enjoying every last bit of it.


Friday, December 19, 2008

I got up early and did a little more packing before heading to school in the morning for breakfast. I have to say it was one of the only times I was hung over, which was a bit annoying as it was my last day and I wanted to be out and about, exploring the island and swimming with the sea lions. I took a short nap on the couch at school after breakfast, then went to the beach for a little while. It was super hot, but absolutely gorgeous and I couldn’t have been happier. Shawna, Rachel, Sam, and I walked to Tijeretas in the blazing sun to go snorkeling. It was probably the most beautiful day ever, and the water was crystal clear and pretty cold. The cold felt good though against the intense heat. We swam with sea lions, one of which was very playful, and then Sam got stung by a jelly fish. I ended up leaving before the others and took the other path back to town, taking pictures along the way. It was nice alone time that allowed me to reflect on the past 4 months and really look at what I was leaving.
When I made it to school I got a hold of Katie finally, and went to meet her and Carlos at La Playa for lunch. I had shrimp ceviche and it was very delicious! I walked home with Katie after lunch, finished packing while sweating and getting sea salt all over my belongings, and then showered because I was pretty gross and sweaty. Once we were all cleaned up, Katie and I left for the sunset boat cruise that many of us were taking for our last night in the islands. The Galapagos Party Boat was full of all our friends, students and locals. It motored around Wreck Bay for a while before anchoring off of Playaman. The sunset was beautiful, and Danielle and Tom swam out to join us on the boat – they had been at school because Danielle was still working on her final paper for Diego. There was lots of music and ‘free’ caiparinas, but my stomach was not too interested in those. Everyone was happy, and I wasn’t sure why I felt lost; I tried not to mope or anything, but I was just miserable. Something about leaving the island and my friends forever was just weighing down my spirits, not allowing me to party and enjoy my last night with my friends.
Around 7 pm I left the party boat on a water taxi to get dinner at Calypso thinking that maybe I needed food to make my stomach feel better. The burger and fries were cold and ended up making me feel even worse and more sick afterwards. Steph talked me into going back to the boat with her and Sonia, where I had some vodka and rum practically poured down my throat by my friends. I know it’s pathetic, but I kept thinking that if I could just get drunk I would be able to have fun with the rest of them. I did dance a bit on the (now very wet) boat, but my ankle was just hurting too much so I resorted to sitting on the side with some friends while taking lots of videos and pictures. Unfortunately, all the alcohol did was make me cry more so I really felt pathetic at this point. Everyone else had been drinking since about 5 pm so by this point they were all very drunk and jumping in the water and splashing around. At 10 pm I got off the boat and went to Polo’s to hang out with Jonathan for a while. We waited together until everyone else got off the party boat and found us, then we all headed to Iguana Rock for our last night. I stayed for a while to hang out and say goodbye to everyone, but I left early compared to the others to go home and go to bed.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

I got sick in the middle of the night – more towards the morning. I don’t think it was because of drinking, but rather because my stomach has been so upset lately. However, the alcohol, burger, and fries certainly didn’t help. After breakfast I went to the beach one last time with Katie and Carlos. We stayed at Playaman for a little over an hour; no one else was there so we had the entire beach to ourselves…well, there were sea lions too. When we walked home Carlos was being super moody and told Katie he wasn’t going to come to the airport later to say goodbye. That put everyone in a tense mood, and we didn’t need that what with this being a hard enough day as it was. I showered at home to get the last of the sea and salt off of me, changed my clothes, closed up my suitcase, and got a cab to the airport with Lisa and Katie. We had to take out luggage over early and check in, but then we were free to roam about until our plane left around 2 pm. I went to get my log book signed for scuba diving and said my final goodbye to Victor and Chachi – I think I may miss that dog more than any other animal.
Back at the house, Lisa, Katie, Karol, Ines and I watched a scuba movie while Leonardo made us ceviche for lunch. We ate delicious ceviche, and Ines showed us how to make patacones afterwards. Finally, we left our house for the very last time. When we arrived at the airport some people were already there, and others not. There were lots of goodbyes and tears (mostly from me because I’m a sap). I was really worried that Charlotte wasn’t going to make it to the airport to say goodbye in time because I couldn’t get a hold of her. I cried into Gonzalo’s arms, Steph’s arms, Charlotte’s arms, and Carlos’ arms. Jonathan showed up even though he had told me last night that he wasn’t going to come – that was a hard goodbye because as dramatic as he is he is still one of my good friends. I think I was most upset about Jairo – I knew he said he wasn’t going to come to the airport, but I guess I just didn’t believe it. I think deep down I thought he would come to say goodbye, but he didn’t. I went through security into the waiting area with the others – we were all puffy-eyed and blowing our noses but no one cared.
As I was sitting there with the others, waiting to board our plane, Ines and Karol somehow talked their way through security to say goodbye to me, Katie, and Lisa. That sent me into another fit of tears of course so now I was really blubbering. Part of the Ecuadorian National soccer (futbol) team was on our flight – they day before had been the dedication of the new arena on the island and about half of the team had come for that. When we arrived in Guayaquil we had to say goodbye to Perrazo as he got off the plane – it was all becoming more real by the minute. I sat next to Lisa D. on the plane, and we both cried so no one was judging anyone else. We arrived in Quito at about 6:30 pm; Haruna was there to pick us up and put us on the bus back to Hotel Walther. There was a fiasco with the rooms of course, and I felt like I wasn’t wanted anywhere. We should have kept the same rooms as when we were in Quito before, but of course people wanted to changed things up. I ended up with Stephanie D, Sonia, Shawna M, and Stephanie O back in room 21 – my home for a month at the beginning of the semester. For dinner (even though we could have gotten it downstairs), I went to Tomato with Shawna S, Sam, Katie D, and Rachel. We all ate delicious pizza and desserts and then headed back to the hotel. We pretty much hung out in the room for a bit and all went to bed after working on packing some more (I had all the stuff I left in Quito to rearrange and sort through again).

Sunday, December 21, 2008

This morning I had breakfast at the hotel for the last time ever – I ate around 8 am. Afterwards I had no desire to do anything. Other people were going out shopping in the market, or going to Old Town to see the Cathedral, but I had no desire to leave the room all day. Instead, I worked on pictures, went on the internet, and finished packing all of my stuff up. Around 11 am I got a call from Shawna S. She, Katie D, and Rachel had left a bit before to walk to La Mariscal and got mugged at knife-point on the way. Rachel was the only one who had stuff taken, but the problem was they took her Censo. A Censo is an Ecaudorian I.D. that you need to leave the country if you had a visa – which we all did. I called Haruna for them and the three of them go back safely. They ended up meeting Haruna at the police station to file a report and hopefully get her on her 7:30 am flight tomorrow morning. Diego said he may be able to pull some strings if they hassle her at the airport tomorrow…
I eventually showered in a really, really hot shower, then went to La Mariscal for lunch with Rachel, Katie, Lindsey, Tom, and Danielle. We went to Tomato again because not much was open on a Sunday, but instead of pizza this time I got a pasta. When we had all finished, I went to the place that I had gotten my ear pierced 3 months ago to get a new earring and have them clean my ear. Lindsey ended up getting her pierced too. I walked to the artisanal market with Lindsey and Jon. I was able to buy scarves there for really cheap (a buck fifty a piece!); the three of us walked around the crowded stalls for a while, ran into Kelly, Lisa, Louise, Stian, and Lianne (of course, spending more money on gifts), then caught a cab back to the hotel. I finished packing (apparently I like to ‘finish’ packing a lot) and got ready for dinner. The bus came to the hotel to pick us up around 7 pm.
We were taken to a nice restaurant for our farewell dinner; David Romo was there to say goodbye but couldn’t stay because he threw his back out, David Cevallos was in Tiputini so we did not get to see him, which we were all pretty upset about, Andrea was in Portugal, Hugo in the Galapagos, Andres in Germany, and who knows where the others were. Carlos Valle and Haruna were both there, plus the lady who is taking over Haruna’s job. Diego showed up late because David Romo told him the wrong address of the restaurant. For dinner I had this weird Peruvian ceviche, and a delicious breaded chicken entre with cheese and ham, salad, cornbread, wine, and water. After dessert was served, we watched the slideshow Sam had made, and everyone cried a bit I think. We took group pictures with only a few of the Ecuadorians missing (Gabby, Pablo, Jorge, Annie, and Emilia). Then it was time for final goodbyes with Diego, Haruna, Carlos, and Christina. Back at the hotel everyone ended up hanging out in our room until the early hours of the morning, reminiscing about the past four months and telling stories to make everyone laugh. There was exchanging of contact information, pictures being taken, and everyone sharing their favorite or most memorable moment(s) of our semester. Finally everyone went to bed so that we could get up early to start the final goodbyes…

Monday, December 22, 2008

Pretty much everyone got up around 5 am to say goodbye to Dave, Lisa B, Shawna M, Sonia, Caroline, Katie K, Sam, Rachel, Shawna S, and Katie D. It was by far the hardest goodbyes of my life. I cried harder than I can ever remember crying, especially when Katie, Rachel, and Sam left. Sam thought I was on the Continental flight to Houston with them, so when she realized I wasn’t coming with them she started crying even harder which set me off. Katie and I avoided each other until the very end because that was the hardest. How do you say goodbye to someone who is like your sister? I had spent the past 4 months living with these people, making tight bonds, and now in one moment I get ripped away from them for good. Study abroad tells you that you will have a hard time going to another country – what they don’t tell you is how agonizing it will be to leave the people you came to know and love while you were abroad.
Once all the taxi’s departed, stuffed with luggage and GAIAS students, I sat outside on the cold wall for a while trying to calm myself down. I felt like part of me had just been torn open, like there was a hole in my body and the missing pieces would never return. I finally made it back to my room with Stephanie O, Stephanie D, and Maddelyn and we all tried to sleep for another couple hours. That didn’t work too well for me because Katie had written me a note that she told me not to read until she was gone, so I laid there reading her note over and over, crying into my pillow.
At 7 am everyone on the Delta flight back to Atlanta had to leave – that consisted of me, Emily, Tom N, Danielle, Jon, Stephanie D, and Stephanie O. At the airport both Emily and I had to rearrange stuff in our luggage because our big suitcases were over the weight limit. Then we all went to pay the exit tariff, then passed through immigration (without the immigration agents even looking at our censo’s), then trucked through security, and finally got some food. I went to the bathroom when they started boarding for our flight and ended up getting yelled at for being late, even though I ended up sitting on the bus that took us to the plane with Danielle for a good 20 minutes. After those 20 minutes of waiting Emily and Jon showed up – turns out they were randomly chosen to be searched – weird. When the plane was finally boarded and the doors were closed, we took off and I saw my last of Ecuador – for now.
On the plane I sat next to Jon with Danielle on the other side; In front of us were Emily, Stephanie O, and Stephanie D; Tom was a few rows behind us. One of the passengers on the plane got sick, but I think he was just having an anxiety attack. I watched the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 on my monitor, which made my cry of course, so I read Katie’s note and cried some more. I figured if I was going to cry I might as well get it all out. Once I was passed crying, I worked on organizing and editing pictures for a bit before handing my computer to Danielle so she could steal some pictures from me. During that time I watched some documentary on scuba diving which was pretty neat. I saw Cuba as we flew over it, then watched as we reached U.S. soil over Florida. It was actually kind of exciting to be back in the states since I was gone for such a long time. I was started to feel eager to get home and see my family, and a little less sad about leaving everyone.
Our plane landed in Atlanta a few minutes ahead of schedule and we all made it through immigration without any problems or lines. (Well, the only problem was I couldn’t understand English anymore!) We went to the luggage carousels to get our bags, which had to be rechecked, but they took forever to come. There was some sort of jam down in the sorting room and the bags weren’t coming up – Stephanie D almost didn’t make her Chicago, and Stephanie O only made her flight to Denver because it was delayed. All our goodbyes were rushed – we had to say goodbye before bags even got there and then watch them run off towards customs. Tom, Jon, Danielle, and I stayed together because we had several hours before our flights – the flights were not even listed on the monitors yet because they were so far away. Emily left us at customs to try to rebook her flight to Oregon – her flight got cancelled because of horrible weather in Portland.
Since we had time to kill, the four of us went to the food court to get something to eat. I got Panda Express as both my first meal in the country, and last one before leaving four months ago. Then we just hung out for a while and chatted before Tom left us – he had to go try to figure out what was going on because his later Portland, OR flight also go cancelled. And then there were three. Since I left before Danielle and Jon, they both came with me to my gate. Danielle took more photos of my computer while Jon and I salsa danced the salsa Christmas music that was being played. My gate got moved, so the three of us picked up and moved to the new gate together, avoiding those last goodbyes. Eventually it was time for me to board, so I hugged them goodbye one last time and watched with tears in my eyes as they walked away towards their plane that would take them home. Being alone had never been more lonely. I hadn’t really felt lonely for 4 months – if anything I felt the opposite. Now everyone I wanted to see was gone in less than 12 hours and I was left feeling empty. There’s no more walking upstairs to see one of my friends, or plans to meet up at the beach or Iguana Rock. I was sad, but also happy because every minute brought me closer to seeing my family, whom I hoped would be waiting for me at the Detroit airport.
As I stepped off the plane in Detroit I was greeted by sub-zero temperatures. I could see my breath immediately and the air had a biting chill to it, even inside the terminal. It was strange to be somewhere so familiar, and yet so foreign. I went to get my luggage, hoping my sisters would be at the bottom of the escalators to greet me, but I had beaten them there. I know it was corny but I felt sad; I had wanted a true welcome home greeting with them waiting for me to make my way to the baggage claim. I went to the carousel that my luggage was supposed to come to and waited in the freezing cold. After several minutes of nothing, finally my sisters came bounding toward me to give me hugs and greet me. They brought my winter jacket with I gladly took and helped me get my bags (which weighed a ton each). Out at the car I was finally able to see my mom and I gave her a big hug and kiss. I was finally glad to be home.