in two months i will be in my comfy little home in santa monica. i will have eaten in n out, slept in my very own bed, and on the 28th of december i will have to call into the superior court of los angeles hotline to see if i have jury duty the next morning or not. at that point i will have spent four days walking the inca trail to machu picchu, some time in the ecuadorian amazon and i will have written a 25 page paper in spanish on sumak kawsay and the government's most recent promises to the indigenous peoples of ecuador. i will probably be in some ecuador appreciation group on facebook. my hair will be another inch longer (hopefully).

i am really far from home and in some ways and on some days i want those two months left to be a lot less. my life in the last two months and the next two months consists of some pretty cool situations and things that i need to remember. ecuador has colada morada y guaguas, fruits like guanabanas and naranjillas and uvitas and tomate de arbol and guayaba which all make fantastic juices and batidos, ecuador has quarter buses and loving families and kisses on the cheek and weather with character and presidents to meet and waterfalls and many many new experiences for me.

even though on occassion i buy a hot dog or french fries i know that once i'm in the states i will be craving ecuadorian food for the rest of my life and any ecuadorian restaurants i find will never ever compare to what i eat here.

phase one of my semester abroad is over after tomorrow. phase two, the study trips, starts friday and ends at the end of the next month. phase three is the three and a half weeks with nothing to do but write a 25 page paper in spanish and say my goodbyes to ecuador.