Yesterday was a blur. Traveling tends to do that to me! Like I mentioned in my last post, my day started very early in the morning. We flew from Salt Lake to Atlanta, Georgia, and then Atlanta to Quito, Ecuador. In total, I think it was about 8-9 hours of flying. I was a bit silly and forgot to take pictures, so this part of the blog may be boring (for those of you that prefer picture books over textbooks...which is almost everyone....sorry), and you don't get to see my traveling buddies.
We came into Quito at about 10:30 at night, but with customs and lost luggage and so forth, we did not get out of the airport until midnight. We then had a 2-hour bus ride to Otavalo. We did not get to bed until around 2:30, but by the time we got into bed, we were asleep harcore.
Things I learned about myself during a whole day of traveling:
1. I don't like having a lot of luggage
As part of this trip, we were all required to bring 2 checked bags in order to bring a bunch of medical supplies with us. Carrying around that much luggage after a long day of traveling is a pain!! When I was younger and traveling with my parents, my dad would always make us take just one carry-on bag. We weren't allowed to bring a bag that we needed to check. In my dumb teenage years, I thought that a small carry-on bag was limiting my freedom. Now I realize that having just a carry-on IS freedom!! Thanks, Dad, for the lesson learned.
2. Movies/books about dogs make me cry
On each of our flights, we had a small TV in front of us and a big selection of movies to watch. One of the (many) movies I watched was one that I think came out in 2015. It's called "Max". It's about a dog that served a few tours in Afghanistan, but when his owner was killed in battle he went a little crazy and could only be calmed by the dead soldier's brother. I cried several times in the movie, which is embarassing because the people around you really have no idea why you're crying. I realized that I cry for a lot of these types of movies and books, even though I'm not much of a cry-er. Have me read "Where the Red Fern Grows", though, and I'm a goner. And it makes me want a dog. Like, really bad.
3. Traveling makes me emotional
If I spend more than 5 hours traveling, I start getting really sentimental. This is the first time since getting married that Alec and I have been apart for more than 3 days. Even though I just said good-bye to him yesterday morning, all day yesterday I was thinking about how long it would be until I could snuggle in his arms again. Yeah, it's pretty bad. And almost pathetic, I guess. But, I mean, if you had a handsome guy like this waiting for you at home, wouldn't you want to be in his arms, too??
That should be enough of lessons learned by Jalyn.
This is day 1 in the country. We are currently in Otavalo, Ecuador. Fortunately, today was more of a recovery day from travelling and we got to sleep in and chill for the day. This morning my roommate, Beth, and I went to the Otavalo Market.
The Otavalo Market is a street market filled with vendors.
I'm glad I can speak Spanish and all, but it still doesn't make me a good haggler. I have a lot to learn. The market goes up and down several streets, so after getting the goods that we wanted, we were very lost and ended up wandering and asking for directions several times.
That's another thing I learned about myself. I have a hard time taking directions in Spanish OR English. I have this bad habit of just listening until I hear about a landmark that is familiar, and then forgetting everything except for that landmark. That's ok if I'm asking for directions in a place that I'm familiar with, but it is bad news when I'm in a place that is new to me. Derp. This is why I always need a traveling buddy. Few people will get this reference, but here goes:
Other than the market and food and whatnot, it's been a very chill day. Tomorrow we have church in the morning and then will be heading to the Amazon for the first leg of our service here. Hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera this time and take more pictures!
¡Que les vayan bien!
