Back in the USA

Well I am back in the USA...it still feels surreal. The moment I stepped into the airport in the US, I was longing to speak Spanish because everyone around me was speaking English. Thankfully I ran into some Mexicans at the airport and was able to speak Spanish :) Being back has been weird but I have been enjoying my time with family. I was glad to be back just in time for Thanksgiving so that I could spend it with my family! The day after Thanksgiving, I started work at a Christmas tree farm. So my US life basically immediately started back up full force.

I think about my loved ones in Ecuador often and talk to them on Skype and Facebook often. And like I said,  I miss speaking so much! Although I am not longer in Ecuador, part of my heart remains there and I know that I will be going back in the near future. I am determined to find the money to go back! I am so thankful for my time in Ecuador and the amazing, truly life changing experience that I had there. Mostly, I am thankful for all the wonderful people that I met there and the great relationships that I formed. Relationships that will last a lifetime.

I will start back up at my University in January to finish up my last quarter! I will be graduating in March with a major in Human Services and a minor in Spanish! Then I will start the Peace Corps. I do not know my specific country or start date yet but they told me that my region is Latin America and I could start as early as June of 2012. I am so thankful that I will be serving in Latin America!

Thank you for reading my blog!

My mom and I on Thanksgiving day

Ecuador, you stole my heart.

I am currently sitting at the airport in Quito waiting to board my flight to the US. I know this may sound dramatic I feel like I will never feel happy again or be able to stop crying. I had to say goodbye to an amazing country that stole my heart and to so many amazing people, friends, and family figures that I had here. There was not enough time to say goodbye to all the loved ones that I have hear. I have so many loved ones in so many different cities all over Ecuador that it was difficult to say goodbye. It was especially difficult to say goodbye to the kids at the orphanage that I had become so close with. Saying goodbye to my family in Quito was also really difficult because I love them so much and they have been such a blessing to me. Last night, my family had a goodbye dinner for me and it was so wonderful. There were tears in my eyes the entire time because I felt so blessed but also so sad at the same time to be leaving.

It is amazing how much this experience has changed my life in such a short time. It's only been five and a half months since my first day in Ecuador but it feels like a lifetime because of the relationships and all the experiences that I have had.

Ecuador definitely stole my heart and there is no doubt in my mind that I will be back sometime in the near future.

Saying goodbye to my amazing friends in Guayaquil

My last day with the boys at the orphanage in Cuenca :(

Saying goodbye to some of my favorite kids at the orphanage in Quito

"NOOOO KENDRA DON'T LEAVE!!!!!"

My beautiful Vivi. One of the older girls at the orphanage who I became so close with. 

At my going away party. They made a little sign for my chair that said "happy travels"

Last week in Ecuador...

The time that I have been dreading has come...my last week in Ecuador. I have already been so emotional and am crying at every little thing. I have already started saying my goodbyes and it has been so difficult. I have so many loved ones here and so many amazing relationships that saying goodbye to everyone is so sad and hard. I will be going to some other cites this week to say goodbye to my loved ones in cities outside of Quito. My family in Quito is throwing a goodbye party for me on Monday night, my last night in Quito.

I spent the entire weekend with my family in Quito. We made chocolate out of cacao, had a bbq, cooked a lot of other food, and just spent a lot of time together. Here are a few photos from the weekend and a few of this week:

Making chocolate!

Adri and I with cacau shells.

Making chocolate!

Cooking lots of delicious food!

One of my last days with some of the younger students

Some of my favorites :)

The older students

The country that stole my heart

Cielo Verde!

Cielo Verde is translated to "Green Sky/Heaven". This is the name of the little town where I spent 4 amazing days last week with my family in Quito. It is in the jungle about 4 hours outside of Quito. This trip is one of the most wonderful trips that I have taken here in Ecuador. We stayed with the brother of Adriana who has the most kind and adorable family that live out in Cielo Verde. We took walks through the jungle and picked fruit, we swam in rivers, we sung songs by the camp fire, and many wonderful things like this. Everything that we ate was straight from the land, so fresh and delicious. I did end up getting sick though from eating a fruit called "cacao". I was basically puking my guts up for a while but after that I was just fine. Despite getting sick, everything was so much fun and so wonderful. Just spending quality time together in the jungle and the natural beauty. It was so great to get away from the big city of Quito and just spend some simple yet quality time together. My friend Adriana is such a pleasure to spend time with because she is always so genuinely happy and positive. She grew up in the jungle and loves nature and the countryside. She does not like living in Quito because she doesn't like cities. So she was extra happy to be in the nature and we enjoyed every minute.

Here are some photos from the trip!:

Sitting in the yard of the house where we stayed

Adriana's son Gabriel wore his batman suit nearly all week :)

The 2 adorable daughters of the family that we stayed with

Singing songs by the campfire at night

Picking interesting fruit on one of our many walks through the jungle

A palm tree with spikes

On another jungle walk

Swimming in the river

A chicken that we ate for dinner

The food was so fresh and all straight from the land

Every morning we milked cows!

The house where we stayed. They built it themselves.

Another interesting fruit from the jungle

Walking to a river

Swimming!

My dear, amazing friend Adriana.

We had to get across the river this way because there was no bridge

The delicious fruit "cacao" that was so good but make me puke my guts out later in the day

My favorite fruit Pitahaya!

I took this photo for my parents because I know they will freak out when they see it...before living in Ecuador vegetarian but now I eat chicken! Aren't you proud mom and dad? ;)