Things you get used to

Well, we fly home in two days. So much more is in our heads and hearts than we have had time to write during our time in Ecuador. Simeon said yesterday that ¨we are having lots of small adventures while on our big adventure¨. I think he is right.

In many ways we are just getting settled in and now we have to leave. I am used to putting my toilet paper in the trash can instead of flushing it. I am used to not drinking water out of the tap. (On the occasional time of forgetting and drinking, a shot of Ecuadorean moonshine is said to kill anything that might live in the water. We have received a couple bottles as gifts and it has come in handy twice. I do not think it would pass customs upon our return. Our host Chris takes the concoction out of the Sprite bottle that it is usually ¨packaged¨ in and puts it in a glass bottle because it has been known to melt the plastic. ) I am used to chilly nights since no one has central heat. I am used to sleeping in the same room with my wife and three kids. And I am mostly used to taxi drivers using their left hand to talk on the cell phone while shifting gears with their right hand while passing a car on a curve in the road going uphill.

I am still not used to the majestic views of the Andean mountains and volcanos, the generosity and hospitality of our new Ecuadorean friends and the poverty that presents itself each and every day.