One month left in Ecuador...

Trying my best to avoid excessive countdowns, but since I haven´t been home in close to a year, it is a very exciting time to know that I will be coming home soon to see family and friends. The part that is difficult that I didn´t ever imagine before was what I would be leaving. I have made friends in Quito, both Ecuadorian and American, created a familia with the niños and my host parents that I have been living with for the past year. While I am very excited to be home, perhaps it is bittersweet. It is with this that the one month mark has left me with a sense of taking advantage of everything I love about Ecuador and making the most of the rest of my time. Since the last time I´ve written, I´ve visited Baños and jumped off a bridge with 3 of my close friends that arrived here to volunteer in March. I celebrated the equivalent of Labor Day Weekend at the beach in Atacames. I´ve visited Cesar and David´s preschool to watch their family day performances. I´m currently planning to head to Ambato to celebrate my friend from high school´s bday. I´m also going to be running-jogging-slugging along in a 15K in June. When I go to think back about the time I´ve spent in Ecuador this year, I´m sure I will have nothing but fond memories of the people and places.