somewhere under the sky

returning

i forgot that people in ecuador were so friendly. how can one forget something like this? it is possible that i forgot a lot of things, in fact now that i am here for a second time i am remembering much that i did not know i had forgotten.
yes, people here are extremely friendly. a woman i met on the plane was returning to ecuador after 11 years of living in the U.S. she gave me her contact info in case i needed anything. a man was kind enough to walk me to the bus stop from the airline office. a woman on the bus held one of my bags and pointed out a seat to me. a woman on another bus gave me two mandarines. everywhere i find goodness.
except for certain taxi drivers. they pretend to know somewhere but really they do not and then it is an annoying mess because of course, i do not know the place, nor do i have a cell phone.
i had also forgotten that ecuador is another world. as soon as i entered this world for the second time, i remembered all my feelings from when i left it before and re-entered the world of the U.S. it is hard to explain. riding on the bus from Quito to Ecuador, i remembered everything-the convenience stores, the way the plants grow on the side of the road, the Andes, the landscape checkered from agriculture, the blue sky against the green mountains, the houses in the midst of construction, the bread, the colors, the smells, the language...it is all different.
i love everything and everywhere i go a flood of memories come back to me. it is strange to be in a place where i lived before after a year of growth and learning. some things change, some things stay the same.

posted by leah v @ 3:24 PM