Farewell Ecuador

Well the time has finally come. It’s time to say my official goodbye to Ecuador. We set out on this mission to see the world, meet some new people, work in schools that weren’t run by standardized tests, and try something new. As we end our three years in Ecuador, we have accomplished all of those goals, and so much more. We have been incredibly fortunate. This adventure began with an overlying sentiment of “We’ll see how it goes, let’s give it a shot,” and has changed us both tremendously. We are better teachers, better people, more empathetic, and more well-rounded as people for having taken the chance to live here.

Shannon and I rolled the dice on the whole idea of international teaching. We went to a cold icy town in Iowa to give it a shot. Then, for all intents and purposes, we essentially closed our eyes, spun the globe, and picked a place to live. As I think back on that, and the macro view of this experience, it’s pretty crazy. We chose an amazing place to live, and the fact that we even stepped up to bat and made the choice has made our lives better.

We arrived here three years ago as boyfriend and girlfriend, with a dog and nearly zero international travel experience. During our time here, we got engaged in the Galapagos Islands! We lost the youngest, and furriest member of our family too soon. We experienced sadness, joy, adventure, and frustration. We leave Ecuador a married couple and I leave with a new passport (because I filled up my old one with too many stamps). We learned Spanish. We learned how to live in a new place. We learned a lot about ourselves. It’s remarkable how resourceful you can be when you have someone you care about by your side; even if you get dropped off in a new country with no idea where to go or what to do.

We have been fortunate enough to collect unique experiences we couldn’t have had anywhere else. We’ve witnessed political protests. We’ve eaten incredible Ecuadorian food, including grubs in a village in the Amazon. We didn’t visit. We lived here. We became a part of it, for better or worse. We’ve swam with sharks in the Galapagos. We’ve shot blow guns in the Amazon. We wandered into a field of bulls trained to gore people. We had fun. We got lost. We found our way. We drank wine in the mountains of Chile. We got married in a rose garden. We’ve walked around the sacred ruins of Machu Picchu with our 15 closest friends and family. We’ve hiked and ridden horses across the top of volcanoes. We’ve overcome a myriad of difficulties such as living without hot water for two weeks, and Shannon drying her hair with a space heater. And one of us…has defended our family from multiple vicious llama attacks. I have already named incredible, life-defining experiences, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this country and our time here, has been. All of those experiences surreal. None would have been possible without taking the first bold leap of faith and curiosity.

During our time here, we’ve met amazing people that I hope remain close friends despite our pending move across the world. We’ve met, and befriended some of the best educators I’ve ever seen. We’ve traveled. We’ve learned. We’ve grown. We’ve laughed. We’ve enjoyed every minute of it. We’ve been fortunate to enjoy it with people who were strangers three years ago, but who have become family. We’ve shared Christmas parties, Thanksgiving meals, vacations, frustrations, and victories. I didn’t expect to grow so close to our friends so quickly.

I am sad about leaving. Ecuador has been more to us than a place. Living here has been truly formative for Shannon and me. I look back at the blog posts that we’ve made over the last three years and I am humbled at the opportunity and overwhelmed. Nothing I can say in this post can do justice to the gratitude I have for being given the opportunity to come here. To live here. To experience all that Ecuador is. Our life has gone from ordinary to incredible. We live an adventure. We’ve had ups and downs, but we got through them together and enjoyed them together. We have enjoyed and endured. We have learned. We have broadened our scope of the world, of other cultures, and of what it means to truly be grateful. We are leaving Ecuador changed. Thank you to all of our friends and family for making our time here what it was. We have had many defining moments and experiences here. Ecuador, the friends we’ve made here, and the memories we’ve created, will forever be a part of me.