Adios Ecuador

One more sleep! Can you believe it? Just one more sleep before we leave our heartland. Actually maybe I should be a little more specific.....it's just half a sleep before we leave. We have to be at the airport at 4AM so I am hoping to be finished packing and at least resting for a few hours prior to departure.

Things here have been hectic today. I think every man and his dog have visited us today and I'm still not packed! We've popped down to the airport to weigh our luggage and found that we have had to take out 12 kilos of stuff we intended to take with us. That was tough. But at least we were able to do it now and not early in the morning with a whole pile of people behind us. I've been through all my hand luggage taking out all lip gloss, toothpaste, hair gel, water....anything that would be considered, even remotely, like gel or liquid (you may have heard about the recent arrest of terrorists). So we are prepared for anything.

So now it is time for some final goodbyes. I have to admit that Ecuadorians are not good at goodbyes. They give you a hug and kiss and then say "But I'll see you at the airport". They just can't handle the finality of goodbyes but as a kiwi finalising that kind of stuff is really helpful to us and necessary. We've learnt how to walk the middle ground. Still it's tough. There have been lots of tears shed already today and I know more will fall once we are on the plane (I've packed lots of tissues). But now it's time for one final goodbye......Adios Ecuador. Gracias por todo. De ti he aprendido bastante. Has cambiado mi vida para siempre. Cuida de mis amigos y familia ecuatoriana. Siempre te llevare en mi corazon.....mi corazon latino.