2014-09-24
Since 8th grade, I have backpacked at least 45 miles each summer, so when my friends and I decided to hike the volcano, Pichincha, one Saturday afternoon I felt confident in my abilities. However, as we rode up to the base of the mountain in el Teleferico (basically a ski lift) and the air was already...
Read More
2014-09-24
The other day we were asked to describe a time when we felt our most healthy, in body and mind, and when we felt the most satisfied. I picked out several examples, but none felt as real as now. While I might have made a few too many stops at the panederia on my way...
Read More
2014-09-24
On a clear Saturday, three friends and I hailed a cab to take us to “el Teleférico.” I’m not quite sure what that translates to, but our understanding was that we were headed to the base gondola of volcán Pichincha. And luckily, this isn’t one of my many stories where the cab driver has no...
Read More
2014-09-24
It’s 6:30 and already I can hear our “domestiques” sweeping the tiled courtyard in front of my bedroom door. It’s the same sound every morning: little consistencies like that make me feel a bit more at home. The domestique? I actually have two of them. They are essentially maids but are treated like family: they...
Read More
2014-09-24
First of all: Sheep. Now that that is taken care of – Dakar. Dakar seems to be a good place to start. It’s where I’ve spent my first two weeks in Senegal and yet I still cannot seem to put a finger on what exactly Dakar has done to me. Done for me is different....
Read More
2014-09-25
Put twenty girls in a youth hostel and illness is bound to go around. There I was, sitting in a chapel in Quito listening to directions on how to operate my Ecua phone, hard to believe that 53 eighteen year olds need to be taught how to use old school internet-less phones, right? However, in...
Read More
2014-09-25
Dear momma,Eight am is the perfect time of day here. The sun casts long shadows, it rose not too long ago. The dust from the comings and goings of the previous day has settled, leaving the air fresh. The breeze is crisp, for West Africa. Women clean their stoops as men head to work on...
Read More