Five

Five years ago today (give or take a day), I was off to my first foreign country.
It seems like it was 10 years ago at least.
And while I thought I knew all that I would see since I'd researched it, studied it, and Flickr-ed it, I was wrong.
There were many things I never expected to see or experience in Ecuador, let alone in my entire life.

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I saw a volcano erupt at night, spitting fireballs of lava down the mountainside. A volcano that made it to the homepages of news outlets in the U.S. a couple of weeks later when it majorly erupted.

I saw extinct volcanoes. One of which stands 20,000 feet. Actually, it's the tallest point on Earth considering its height from the near-center of the earth, not Mt. Everest.

I saw people cook and eat guinea pig. Yes, guinea pig. A delicacy for them.

I saw an ocean for the first time. The Pacific.

I saw humpback whales. During mating season.

I saw cows grazing on a city block.

I saw my clothes be washed by hand by a 15-year old maid who has her own little shack in the backyard.

I saw the last Incan ruins in Ecuador.

I saw poverty.
I saw injustice.
I saw and met some of the most humble people.
I saw a developing country that is better off than a lot of developing countries.
But I already knew I'd be seeing that.

I saw inside myself a desire to be more connected with family.
To not take things for granted.
To not waste so much.
To not spend money so fleetingly.

I can only hope that, someday, our own kids will be able to know, to experience another culture that will hopefully move them, leave them changed for the better, for life.


All pictures here.