Week two in Latacunga brought many events. By now I was on a first name basis with the Tia’s, had learned the routine of the house, dealt with a round of sickness, and rode the local buses like a pro and felt fully comfortable navigating the city of Latacunga. I also accomplished two things I never thought I would be able to do, get my ear pierced, and jump off of a 400 ft bridge. Yes, week two was full of adventure. The ear piercing happened as I was doing my shopping in my favorite local produce market. This thought floated in about getting my ear pierced and I set off to find a place. I soon came upon a little stand at the top of a market building and a group of ladies gathered around to watch the spectacle that was me getting my ear pierced. It cost $2 and didn’t involve sanitizing my ear prior but it happened fast and pretty painlessly. I had always wanted to pierce my ear just to experience it but always stopped myself because others told me not too. Its amazing how clearly you can think when there is no one around to tell you “no”. The following day brought the weekend and I decided I wanted to cross off another fear and jump off a bridge. I always thought people that did this were crazy but that was because I was so scared at the thought of it. I was tired however of having a fear rule my mind and set off for Banos early Saturday morning to meet my fear. I enjoy traveling solo without other gringos because it gives me the chance to practice my Spanish and meet new people. After two buses, one taxi ride. and $2.50 later, I stepped onto the bridge. Walking onto the bridge, a part of me wanted to walk away because all of a sudden this experience was becoming very real. I went to the bathroom before and got myself strapped into what I deemed to be a very safe harness. I decided I would jump right away without hesitation because I didn’t want to be one of the people who stood there scared for 5 minutes. I climbed onto the platform and looked out over the misty river below and life suddenly slowed down. I heard the guide on the bridge count 1,2,3… With each number my wit started to fail me and by 3, I had no desire left to jump, yet I leaned forward and dove off. The seconds of free fall were utter confusion and a little cursing, but the moment the rope pulled tight and I swung under the bridge, I realized two things, I was alive, and that the worst part of doing something “scary” is the time leading up to it. The actual moment wasn’t scary at all. After jumping I ate a celebratory snack of chocolate, banana, and raisins, then headed back to the kids in Latacunga.

The river below

The highlights of my week however came from the kids of course. I watched Wilma, a sweet heart of a girl, pull out a stash of crackers one night as the kids were being put to bed. Wilma is 12 and unable to walk or talk. She can make noises however and point with her arms and is incredibly smart. She motioned for me to unwrap the crackers which I did, then quickly returned to her. She struggled to pull them out but then proceeded to hand them to Jofre and Javi (two boys who share the same condition as Wilma) who happily accepted the crackers and munched them down. Wilma then shared her crackers with Daniela, Karina, myself, and finally she ate the last one. Touching. I also got to witness the true life romance of Daniela and Maycol, each age 5. They had been in the home together the past 2 years and were best friends. They laughed together, played together, and even would run away from school together in order to play on the playground together (this resulted in no t.v. for a few weeks). One night when all the kids and I were watching a movie together downstairs before bed I glanced over and realized they were holding hands. They were smitten for each other but were also the others life line in the world. It was a really sweet moment.

I was sitting at the table talking with my host Mom, Martha, when the call finally came. It was Franklin, and it was time for me to travel to my third and final home in Ecuador. Unlike a month prior when I stepped foot into Martha’s house for the first time, I wasn’t nervous in the slightest to change my scenery. I have adopted the mindset that worrying about future changes is trivial; once I arrive at my new destination I will take it all in and go from there. I said goodbye to Martha for the time being and spent the next two hours driving south to Latacunga. Countryside. Thats all I saw and I loved it. Growing up in a small town in Oregon, I am most comfortable when surrounded by nature and greenery. I had a feeling I was going to really like my last month in Ecuador.

After getting lost trying to find the Childrens home and asking four different pedestrians for directions, we finally came upon the Latacunga branch of Hogar Para Sus Ninos. Unlike the house in Quito, this one stood in the middle of fields and trees much to my delight. A mansion if I have ever seen one that appeared to have been built within the last few years. The director of the home, Elizabeth, came out to greet us and showed me to my quarters. The downstairs of the house was for children age 0-18 who functioned at a high level, and the upstairs was for children/adults who were severely low functioning. Half of the upstairs was for volunteers as well complete with a huge kitchen, and maybe 20 beds. As I was the only volunteer there that meant I had my pick of room’s. It had been great to live with two different families the past two months but I was so excited to gain back some independence and have some time to myself in order to reflect on what I had seen so far.

Children’s home in Latacunga

Elizabeth told me to rest for awhile and that she would give me a tour in two hours when she returned from picking up some of the children from school. Tired, I gladly jumped on the opportunity to take a nap and dozed off. I awoke three hours later and figured Elizabeth must have been busy elsewhere or didn’t want to wake me up so I got out of bed and did my own introducing. I opened the door that separated the volunteer section from the children upstairs and entered into a room of new faces. The Tia’s were pleasantly surprised I spoke decent Spanish and right away a girl named Liseth asked me to draw her a guitar. There were seven children in all upstairs from age 5-19. Thalia (5), Zacharias (16), and Veronica (19) were all wheelchair bound and largely unable to communicate any of their thoughts or desires. Jose Luis (12), Tatianna (18), Liseth (17), and Adrianna (19) were able to move on their own but each had their own special needs. These were the children who were never going to be adopted… This made me incredibly sad but I also was happy they had such a loving environment that would be with them the rest of their lives.

That night I met the children who lived downstairs, and the first thing I will always remember about that moment is a small boy spotting me and running up to me to give me a big hug. His name was Maycol and he was 5. He didn’t know me, but he knew I was there to spend time with them. There were 13 children downstairs from 1 month old to 12 years of age and did they ever have energy. I realized I was in for a workout in the weeks to come. That first week was filled with special moments, from watching Shrek with the kids to being unable to stop an older boy pushing over a baby in a highchair and being helpless (I was sitting on the couch bottle feeding another baby in my arms) to stop him from hitting the ground. I could fill 20 pages easy but the one that stands out is meeting Jose Luis. He was a boy of 12 that gets upset when he meets strangers. He was also very curious though and would come over to hold my hand and then realize he didn’t know me. This meant epic crying ensued but after two days he started to recognize my face and we would have a blast playing high five. By the end of the week he would stagger towards me as fast as he could to say hello every time he saw me. Likewise, I lit up whenever I saw him and got this really happy feeling inside. I knew then after my first week that he would be my hardest “goodbye” (I was right).

Just like that I have come upon my final week in Quito. Unbelievable how fast the past month has gone, I guess its true, time flies when you’re having fun! This final week was chalked full of events and plans that I feel contributed to the quick passing of time. Events like my host sisters 24th birthday where the whole family came over and prepared an outrageous amount of food. Or the night of my host fathers birthday where we met his entire side of the family in this mansion of a house and danced from 6-11 pm, ate dinner then danced till 1 am after that! The importance of a close knit family gathering is very high within the culture here and its amazing how nice it all feels. Back home my immediate family is very close, but when it comes to extended family I maybe see them twice a year. Even if life is hectic, they  make sure to carve out time to reunite with one another as much as possible. I would like to implement this practice upon my return home with my extended family but also my immediate family and friends as well. In the past there were always times where I felt certain objectives were more important than a walk with a friend or listening to how my mom’s day was. But now I have truly come to understand that so many of our “important” objectives are really what should take the backseat in life.

While I am excited to move out of the big city and live in the small rural community of Latacunga for the next month, the sadness of having to leave “my” babies at the children’s home has been pretty strong. I say “my” babies because obviously they are not my children but I truly care for them as if they were. It has been such an amazing experience and blessing to spend a bit of my time in their lives and I only wish I could give them more. Its amazing how fast attachments can develop and that their little brains recognize my face after only one month. I knew this would be the hardest part of my experience and so far I haven’t been wrong as it felt like just yesterday I was walking into the toddler room for the first time, or meeting Esteven and trying to get him to go back to sleep when he was not ready for nap time. I will never forget some of the moments I experienced here, from feeding a two month old baby a bottle in a silent room, to talking with the Tia’s about their lives and the work they do on a regular basis. I’ve experienced joy when I find out a child will be getting adopted, yet have seen the sadness in the eyes of those that remain behind, passed over once again. Another reminder that for every good thing in life, there is a bad, and vice versa. I realize that harnessing the understanding of this concept will be crucial in the years to come as I plan on working to ease and prevent hardships faced by others. Its been one thing to learn about problems facing parentless children in class but a completely different experience to see it and live with it first hand. I have grown so much the past month and cant wait to see where I stand one month down the road. One thing is for sure, I will be visiting my friends, family, and babies in North Quito again before I go home!