I'm sitting in a hotel room in Guayaquil, looking at a full moon out our window rising over the city and thinking back on what an amazing adventure this trip has been. The diverse contrast of our time here seems like several different trips seamlessly connected. We spent time in the city, over the mountains, driving through the green farm land and on the coast listening to the surf pound and the sea breeze blow. We got to see animals that are so different than I see in Montana. Aunt Eaters mixed in with the occasional Iguana crossing the road. The uniqueness of Ecuador and this part of the world is an experience that I will remember for my lifetime.
One of the things that stands out the most about this trip was the amazing people. Most here seem to live their lives with simplicity in mind, by choice or by necessity. O'Brien and I talked in the car on the way back from the coast today about how in all but very few communities here, there are no grocery stores..... no convenience stores. If a family wants to eat they kill a chicken, cook it's eggs and mash corn from the field into tonight's dinner. I saw smiles in the heart of what appeared to be suffering and people living happy with hardly any material possessions. I also saw people living without basic needs to survive in reasonable health, people that had no opportunity to better their situation in the long term or on a day to day basis. As a person who is privileged in comparison, it was hard to see, smell and listen to. What I feel like is the important perspective to take away from this trip is to never take any ounce of opportunity, any laugh or friend, any of what I consider part of a normal day, for granted. We are so lucky to live the lives that we do.
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