Leaving

Things I will miss about Santa Barbara/Cotacachi/Otavalo:
-Rincón del Sol—$1 best banana splits ever
-Walking to work with cows
-Walking home from Cotacachi into a stunning sunset over the mountains
-Walking to Cotacachi when the music on my ipod matches perfectly with my mood and I feel on top of the world
-Oskar’s pizza!
-The food—it’s all fresh, whole and delicious with a fresh fruit juice at every meal
-My big comfy bed
-Working with my buddy Kevin Keen
-Greeting everyone I pass on the roads in the communities


Things I will not miss about Santa Barbara/Cotacachi/Otavalo:
-Walking home in the rain
-My whiney, screaming, crying, complaining host sisters
-Moscos—not mosquitoes…far worse. They are small and black and their bites itch 10 times more than mosquitoes and leave scars for much longer
-Having to be home by 6:30 everyday because the last bus from Otavalo leaves at 6:30 and its dangerous to walk in the dark—not because of robbers but because you are likely to run into a cow or fall on a rock or be eaten by a dog
-Finding slugs in my shoes, frogs under my shoes and spiders lurking around
-Political campaign songs
-The papa truck that drives around the communities with a loud speaker announcing that it is selling papas (potatoes) at all hours of the day and night
-Getting in trouble with my mom for not greeting people that greet me—friends of hers that I met maybe once or didn’t even meet but saw in the truck when the picked her up once tell her that they saw me and greeted me and I didn’t respond. This happens on a regular basis, but unlike them, I stick out and you could spot me from three blocks away and wave and I would have no freaking clue who it was, if I saw anything because I have taken to ignoring random strangers shouting at me
-Dirty clothes
-Its always cold…not really cold but just cold enough that its not pleasant