Hola desde Ecuador!
As we prepare for our flights home, we are all thinking about our experiences as a group. It’s been almost a month full of emotions and today Sophia L. wrote and read this reflection to the group. It is an example of how we feel and we wanted to share it with all of you.
-Juliana & Lawrence
The following post features student writing by Sophia L.
Sitting on the plane coming back from Galapagos to Quito, I thought about Tuesday morning, when we would part ways. Because I live in the Midwest, it would be hard to see these people again, but easy for them (most of them are from New York and New Jersey). I couldn’t believe that I lasted an entire month with these people who at first I thought I wouldn’t be able to survive a single day with. I not only lasted, but also thrived and never wanted to leave their side. I love them, and I’m so glad that we made so many memories together, because I know that when I think back on it in a few months or a few years, I know I’ll wonder where they are, and how they’re doing. I imagine that I’ll text or call them, fly to wherever they are, and hope that we can relive those 28 days we spent together. I know it is not much, 28 days, only one month of 16-18 years of our lives, but for me, continuously interacting with them, having to sleep in the same room as most of them, all of us sharing a shower, a bathroom, eating 84 meals together, and laughing with them, there are no other people in the world who I can say I did that with in Ecuador, and I’m so glad that it was these other 17 people. I made some of my best memories, best moments of my life, and I’ve never been happier. I got annoyed and angry sometimes but, I don’t think I would have wanted to spend this trip with anyone else. Complete strangers in the beginning, but friends for life in the end. I hope they feel the same.
