The Extravagant
I was listening to an Adele song the other day when I found myself transported back to Ecuador. In Baños, we had a CD player with Adele’s 21. The song brought back vivid memories of cooking in the plain white kitchen, humming (and singing) with the music, and watching the active volcano blow off stormy […]
What’s the GIVE?
GoGiveLearn. Looking back through our blogposts, I realize that there is adequate (but not complete) representation of Go: where we went, what we saw, and how we experienced immersion into another culture. There are bits of Learn, but far more to come as we we apply new skills in our home, schools, and workplaces. (Stay tuned […]
My Bubble of Peace
Approaching a month since we left Ecuador, our re-entry to North Carolina has been smooth and easy in many ways, yet challenging in others. It’s hard to believe (as I look out at snow-dusted forest) that just weeks ago we were swimming in the Cuyabeno River in the Amazon. I have posted the photo album […]
Capturing Life, Preserving Memories
I awoke to soft pitter-patter on the rooftop, looked out my bedroom window, and saw the warm glow of a new day. There was no rain. When I looked out the kitchen door on the other side of our house, I was reminded of the big volcanic boom that had awoken me hours earlier. And […]
The Simple Things
The simple things matter most. All of us have experienced these surprising, unexpected actions that are memorable. I still remember one from fourth grade. When everyone else refused, a student allowed me to get in front of him in the lunch line. Sometimes spontaneous acts of kindness and other times, everyday gifts, are not things that […]
Into the Jungle
Tropical amazonian forest surrounds me. I walk silently through the fallen leaves, following our guide Luís. My foot cracks a dead branch and Luís looks back at me. “Shhh. The monkeys will run away.” I nod and hope it isn’t too late. Thick underbrush surrounds me and sweat beads on my forehead. Mosquitos flutter contentedly, […]
The Run
As I crossed the finish line, emotion welled up inside me. In fact, I cried. I don’t know why that happens to me after long races sometimes. It just does. I was completely spent. Nothing left in the tank. I also felt tremendous gratitude. Gratitude for being done. Gratitude for having spent a few hours […]
Only in Galápagos
The sea lion barely opened an eye as I walked past him, snoozing in the middle of the sidewalk. He was drunk on salt water and fish. Only in Galápagos. Ten meters down, I jumped over the endemic marine iguana, bathing in the Galápagos inferno. I breathed in the fresh sea breeze, and took in […]
Day of the Dead
Never before have I experienced a day quite like Dia de Los Muertos. In the week preceding November 2, I asked several people, “What happens on Dia de Los Muertos?” “People visit the cemetery.” Simple Enough. As it turns out, the whole week leading to Nov. 2 was one of preparation for this very important […]
For the Love of the Game
One of my biggest concerns about living in Baños was how I would play tennis, since I plan to play for my high school when we return. My dad and I asked around town and heard two answers: No hay (there aren’t any), or Al Sangay (at the Sangay hotel).We decided to look into it […]
A Spitting Image
I woke up this morning and had a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs. As usual, I had no idea what our plan for the day would be. Today, I thought, from my family’s favorable forecast of the day, we were going to take a hike to see a waterfall or something. Well, read on! My […]
Ah, Baños…
You have to love a town that has free parking on the street… where bikes travel at the same speed as cars…. where a taxi ride anywhere in town or a smoothie costs $1… where you bump into the same person you met the day before in the supermarket… where there are no malls…. and […]
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