Every end is a beginning...

For us, the last 48 hours have been a mixture of feelings. Wednesday was mostly made up of typical pre-departure activity: packing, making sure our affairs were in order with our host families, etc. So in that respect we were constantly reminded, and saddened, that our time in Ecuador was drawing fast to a close. But in between taking care of business, Jennifer and I managed to sneak in some last-minute Quito enjoyment! I went to get my hair cut at the barber shop "El Baron" which is right down the street:
Here you can get your hair cut by people who know the art of haircutting for only $2.50!! It really was one of the best haircut experiences I've ever had.

Then, in the evening, Jennifer and I went out with Vicky to the Fruteria Monserrate in the Centro Historico to indulge ourselves in some of the best ice cream under the sun:

And as if that weren't enough, we went after that to the Heladeria San Augustin, in business making some awesome helado since 1858:

With that last drop of ice cream, we said goodbye to the Centro Historico, passing by all the majestic colonial architecture for a final time as the Trolebus sped us back to the homestay. Of course, I had dinner waiting for me, which was rather difficult to eat with a belly full of helado, but I savored each bite, knowing it was my last in Quito. And, as I didn't realize at the time, it would be the last time I would converse with Señora Anita.
This kind lady took care of me for two months, never faltering to provide me with awesome breakfasts and filling dinners, and making sure to look after my every need. Needless to say, as the night drew to a close, it became harder and harder to end the conversations, and our final abrazo was heartfelt and tear-filled. Te extraño mucho, Sra. Anita! Estamos en contacto.

Salido y Regreso

4:30am Thursday morning came too soon.

The streets were completely silent, save for a few random distant cars. The darkness helped conceal the fact that the nondescript red car parked in front of the homestay was actually our taxi to the airport, as we missed the driver asleep in the front seat until he sat up after I took the picture above. And just like that, we were whisked away from our home away from home, without fanfare, too early for a sendoff or at least a brief appearance from our homestay members.

The airport was surprisingly busy at 4:45am, with people bustling in and out of lines and hauling all sorts of baggage around. After checking in with Continental, paying the ridiculous $40.80 departure tax, and getting our carry-on luggage searched at the gate, we were on the plane:
We left ourselves at the mercy of the plane, staring intently out the window to savor each moment that we had to look upon Pichincha and the city for the last time. And then, the ground went out from under us - we had left Quito, waving goodbye to the shrinking buildings below. It was rather sad to see it go.

But once en route, we realized we had so much to look forward to, and the closer we got to home, we began to feel excitement take the place of sadness. During our almost 5-1/2 hour flight, all the hopes and dreams for the future began to sink in - graduation, residency, all coming up - the aventura of a lifetime was waiting ahead. And when we touched down in Houston,...
...it was no more wistful thinking about Quito, but rather the gratefulness that we were in our home country again! After going through customs, Jennifer and I went to Chili's - our first American meal in the States. Boy was it phenomenal - drinking tap water with ice in it free of amoeba worries was exhilirating!

And then, the time came to board our last airplane: Flight 2945 non-stop service to Birmingham. A short 1.5 hours later:
A familiar sight! We were HOME! And with plenty of loving, smiling faces to meet us there:
(Jennifer's family arrived just a few short moments later)

And just like that, de repente, a familiar world came flooding back to us, as all the comforts of home became available to us again. And while our arrival back in Birmingham signaled the end of an extraordinary two-month experience, it also signals the beginning of our greatest aventura yet - graduation from medical school and our 3-year pediatric residency that follows. But of our time in Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands: we are perhaps some of the luckiest people on this Earth to have had this opportunity to experience a new land with all five senses, live and work among a different and wonderful culture, and connect with so many awesome people, ecuatorianos and extranjeros, whom we will always remember. And as we march onward in the path laid out before us in the next three years, we would be remiss not to acknowledge the indelible imprint that our experiences have made on our consciousness. We will miss you, Ecuador, and now just as our hearts have always belonged to our home in Birmingham they too will belong to you as well.

Ciao, Ecuador. Que te vaya bien. Algún dia nos vemos, siempre con brazos abiertos.

Marine Life - a study by Justin and Jennifer

Galápagos Day 8: The Interpretation Center, and Farewell

Our Total Itinerary

Top Row: Dave, Angela, Gary, Bart. Bottom Row: Richard, Dee, Jennifer

“Now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain…” so sung Frank Sinatra and others in a wistful moment of remembrance, and I think we all knew how Frankie felt as we faced the swan song of our incredible 8-day adventure in the Galápagos. It began like any other day – waking to the sunlight, rolling out of bed to the smells of the awesome food brewing in Edi’s kitchen, talking with our fellow passengers one more time. But this time we knew this was the last time, and so we treaded slowly, trying to savor each final moment aboard the Princess. But the time came to disembark for the final time, and we headed out, by panga as always, to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, a familiar sight by now. Our morning excursion was a rather ironic one for our last day: going to the Interpretation Center, where we were to learn the history of the islands and the development of animal life, human life, exploitation, and the rest of the crazy stories that tell the tale of the Galapagos.

By now it was like going to a museum in our hometown, as the islands, pictures of animals, and history seemed very familiar to all of us, and in a way it was a great way to sum up all that we had experienced over the past 7 days. Again, we treaded slowly through the museum, side by side with all our friends. And then at 9:00, we all convened one more time with Enrique...

...who directed us back to town, where we were free to wander the streets in search of souvenirs, soft-serve ice cream, and a final laugh at the goofy sea lion colony that groaned and retched and slothed next to the city. After successfully finding t-shirts and snapping final photos of the city, the 10 of us that were leaving the islands said goodbye to Elizabeth and the young Israeli couple, Asa and Lihi, before boarding the bus to the airport.
At the airport, we checked in, said a fond farewell to Enrique, and headed off to wait for the flight, which was supposed to leave at 12:45. But, true to the dependable travel that Ecuador is known for (ha…), we found out that our airplane wasn’t even going to arrive until 2:00pm! That only meant one thing: POKER! We played, using shredded paper as poker chips, and pined away the hours in the pastime that brought us together on the boat.

Eventually we got hungry and ventured out to eat an almuerzo in a nearby restaurant. It was a sweet travel delay, as it allowed us to spend a couple more hours socializing with our friends, but soon enough, our flight arrived, and we all boarded the plane to sail off into the East towards the mainland. After an hour and a half flight, we arrived in Guayaquil, where we said goodbye to Gary, Richard, and Ohad. The rest of us flew the rest of the too-short distance back to Quito. On a side note, the skies around Cotopaxi were clear! Take that you reclusive mountain – we finally snuck up on you and caught you without clouds! Seems as if we indeed got the last laugh.

Finally, we arrived in the twilight hours back in the homebase – Quito. The seven of us that remained: Bart, Dee, David, Angela, Aisha, Jennifer, and I, sat together at baggage claim, collected our bags, went en masse out the door with our bags in tow. And it was there that we said our final goodbyes and parted ways. Jennifer and I boarded our taxi, which shuttled us back to our homestay. As weird as it is to think of Quito this way, we were back to reality, with only two short days left in Ecuador before our return to the United States on Thursday. But what an exhilirating feeling, to have lived 8 days with amazing people in an amazing place! And we have tried to share with y’all at home as much of our aventura as we can through this blog, but there will always be more to tell, and our bittersweet departure on Thursday will be buoyed by our enthusiasm to share with you face to face all the in-betweens and the small remembrances that have given our lives so much color!

And to our friends from the Princess of Galapagos, we had the time of our lives! Keep in touch, and we hold out hope that someday we may meet again…

Galapagos Day 7: Isla South Plaza, Isla Santa Fe

Our 7th day, and last full day, aboard the Princess began with a bright and early (as in 6:30 am) trip to one of the Plaza islands, not far from Isla Santa Cruz.
Pretty boats in the harbor. Ours is the one in front.South Plaza is famous for cacti:
There was also a warning light for fishermen who didn't have the navagational systems used by all the tour boats.
Enrique was very knowledgeable about the islands, and always gave us interesting factoids.
We did a lot of walking around taking photosof birds...of lizards...of birds and lizards...of lizards and seals...and a cool dead cactus...It also had more cool cliff line...We went back to the boat to sail to Isla Santa Fe and to eat lunch. Then the afternoon we spent on the beach, snorkeling, and checking out more seals. The beach was stunning - I'm pretty sure I would never tire of the beaches in the Galapagos.We also had time for plenty of photo ops with the seals.The group of us waiting for the Panga to take us back too the boat.Justin watching the seals.Lots and lots of seals.Some of them were a lot more friendly than others, a bit to our guide's dismay, I believe. When we were snorkeling we had one little guy gnawing playfully on our snorkeling fins and bumping noses with us. I loved it, but apparently the animals touching us qualified as us touching the animals, and so was frowned upon. Regardless, it was a hoot.
We all gathered round for some of our final beach photos together. Top row: Dave, Ohad, me, Bart (one of the newer members - from Holland), and Justin. Bottom row: the Aussies - Gary and Richard.Me and Richard....and Dee.


Of MAJOR note, it was Mother's Day. Without access to a computer or phone to call home, I wrote this for you Mums:
I love you!!

After snorkeling for hours, we got back on the boat to sail back to Isla San Cristobal - where we started, and where we would be leaving from the following day.

Justin was awesome enough to get all these photos of our crew members:

Brian, the Panga driver:Carlos, the Captain of the Princess:Edi the cook is the guy on the left sitting with other crew members:This time it was my misfortune to take a shower while the boat was moving. I had my feet planted against opposing walls and my back resting against the third wall, but it was still an exercise in survival. By the end, I was rather miserably sea sick (despite the fact that I'd grown quite used to the movement of the boat over the past several days, and in fact had experienced land sickeness/dizziness when on tierra firma). I spent the remaining four hours lying down (either on the front of the boat or in bed reading) as this lessened the nausea significantly. I managed some of Edi's incredible mashed potatoes for dinner, but that was about it. He was concerned by this as my appetite up to this point had been of rather legendary proportions (I'm pretty sure I out-ate most of the guys on the boat). I reassured him that it was only temporary...and then went back to bed.

Once we finally (Thank God) arrived at San Cristobal, I arose from my bed, and Justin and I packed what we could before it was time to head into town for some of our last shoping and for one last visit to our Pub to play pool.
It was with no little sadness that we headed back to the boat for our last night on board. How quickly the days had flown, and how much I would miss my new friends :(

With this sadness in mind, I was convinced to play one more hand of Poker with a few of the guys. We played until about 1 am (ignoring the fact that we had to get up at 6), and I had beginner's luck once again. Good night, Princess of Galapagos!