I won´t let the Ecua-door hit me on the way out

Today is my last full day in Ecuador, and as much as I am eager to get home for several reasons, I am suddenly very sad to leave the city of Cuenca that has been my second home for some of the past three months. I appreciate that I got to LIVE here, for nearly all of November and nearly the past couple of weeks. And I most grateful to Adrian and Julie for being my hosts and friends (and Beth, for making it all happen!). It worked out to be a good complement, of getting to know one place and its people, to the backpacking all over S. America in the past month.

The last few days, I have gotten to know more Ecuadorians and practice my fledgling Spanish. Most of the people I know own or work at the tasty restaurants and cafe that I frequent! Food is a great bond.

And food will be my cultural transition facilitator back to the States. Specifically, In N Out Burger near UCLA tomorrow night, around 11 PM. Although re-adjusting to the prices of food will be quite the shock. I predict eating a lot of PBB sandwiches (peanut butter & banana) and at the taco truck in Wallingford, as I will be too poor for anything else. If only I could bring back a fresh fruit salad in my massive backpack, but that could get messy and liquidous. And then serve as a terrorist device, according to the US government.

So please send me good travel karma for my long journey to In N Out in Westwood (and that I do not sustain any major injury from the pre-Carnival water balloons in town. I am serious. They hurt, and I have a walk home that the locals know their gringa target takes). My day o´travel on Tuesday will begin with heading to the airport in Cuenca at 7 AM (so 4 am for all you West Coasters), flying to Quito (I chose to pay 10 times the price of a bus to get there - 10 hours for bus vs. 45 minute flight - riiiight), having to wait there a few hours before my flight at 4 PM (I am debating visiting the Equator line or Quito for the day, depending on my strength at the time & dealing with transport and traffic and potential for getting robbed during my last few hours in the country), layover in Panama for an hour, then onto the City of Angels (Thanks, Justin, for being my escort from LAX!). I just saw the movie CRASH this past week, and it makes me just as concerned about safety in Los Angeles as in South America! Just kidding.

Chao, South America, and gracias por todos.