Things I'll miss; things I won't

Wow. It's really crunch time. In 48 hours, I'll be almost to Guayaquil, where we're spending our last night in Ecuador. The last couple of days have been really productive, thank God, so now only one 8-10 page paper on the dollarization of Ecuador stands between me and freedom.

Everyone is having a really hard time processing the fact that this trip is almost over. We've all started listing things at random that we'll miss or that we won't miss, so I thought I'd come up with a comprehensive collection.

First and foremost, I'm going to miss my host family. I really feel like a part of the Quijano-Ochoa family. I'm not going to say anything else about this or I'll cry.

A lot of the things I'll miss have to do with food. I'm going to miss all the fresh fruit we get here. The peel just falls right off the bananas, and the strawberries, pineapple, mangoes, and cantaloupe are all so fresh. I've even discovered I like peaches here, and I've never liked them at home. I'll also miss all the fruits that we never get at home, like papayas, reina Claudias (which are basically very small plums), babacos, naranjillas, and tree tomatoes. I'll miss the really tasty Ecuadorian cheese and also having hot chocolate every day for breakfast and dinner. I'll miss my housekeeper Veronica's incredible cooking and the amazing smell of all the little bakeries I pass on the street. There's one just down the street from the school, called Maria's Alemania ("Maria's Germany") that has amazing pastries and pretzels. I'm really going to miss the ridiculously low prices on most things here. I now consider a lunch that costs $6 to be really expensive. I'm going to miss Mayra and Narcisa, who run the school, Julia, my Spanish teacher, and Angel, our guide on many of our excursions. I'm going to miss the beautiful mountains that surround Cuenca, and I'll miss the warm, mild climate of the sierra. At the same time, though, I'm so excited to go home and see snow!!

I won't miss the crazy imbalance between veggies and starches and meat at meals. It's not uncommon to have rice, two kinds of potatoes, and a big hunk of meat for lunch. Sometimes there will be lentils or beans in the soup (because there's always soup!) or a little salad of tomatoes and lettuce doused in dressing. As much as I love the city of Cuenca, I won't miss walking around it. I won't miss the half-hour trek to the school or the abundance of litter and air pollution or the many stray dogs. The dogs don't ever bother us, but they make us sad. I won't miss the never ending hills. Lauren, Sara, and I decided a couple of weeks ago that the phrase "What goes up must come down" doesn't apply to Ecuador. It's possible for things to just go up and up, forever and ever. I won't miss constantly being on my guard when I walk around, especially because December is the most dangerous time of year in the city. I won't miss traffic, whether I'm in a car or walking. You couldn't pay me enough to get a driver's license here. The speed limits, stop signs, lanes, and traffic signals are all fairly optional, at least in the drivers' opinions, and everyone honks their horn constantly. Also, there are so many roundabouts and one-way streets, and many of the streets, at least in the center of the city, are paved in bricks or cobblestones, which makes for a very bumpy ride. I won't miss the disgusting men who feel it necessary to honk or whistle or say "Hola," "Hello, beautiful," and "I love you" when a foreign girl walks by. Sometimes they try to grab your arm or pull your hair. The policemen and soldiers are the worst, which doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the local authorities. I won't miss things we never think about in the States, like whether tap water is safe to drink, whether the electricity will go out for three hours today because there's not enough water in the river, and whether my shower will be freezing or just cold. I won't miss having to wash my underwear by hand in the sink, because that's what women are expected to do here, and I will be so glad to be away from the stupid rooster that lives somewhere near me and crows from 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

I can't believe I only have a day and a half left in Cuenca...Three and a half days till I'm back in Ohio!!