6/28/2012

It's been a week since i arrived in Quito, Ecuador.
It surprises be (btw) that not many people in Cuzco knew where Quito was. I remember my host mom commenting "you are going to Columbia?" haha Oh well, i would just assume that all the people in South America know where all the countries in S.A. are but now i think of it, it's not like i knew many of the countries in the vicinity of my country, Korea.
Anyways, I was excited to come to Quito, but my heart was still in Cuzco. My flight was at around 7 in the morning and i didn't sleep until 4 am.. (Of course i didn't see why i should pack earlier than the day before or even the day i leave lol). Even though i knew i had to pack, i still wanted to spend time with my wonderful friends and my host family's daughter, Katherine. I talked to Katherine until 2am and started packing then. I woke up for my flight and my host mom prepared breakfast for me with fresh fruits... and when she and the daughter hugged me to say good-bye... i started balling my eyes out. Sometimes, you don't really need to know why you are crying and let your emotions be.

Now i am in Quito, and i STILL miss Cuzco. It's not the nice places i have gone to, but it's people that i miss. I thank God for such precious memories these people created for me. I really hope and pray that someday i will meet some of these people. SOON!
It was hard for me at first to be joyful in Quito, because i still missed people in Cuzco. However, thanks to my friend (with whom i am staying in Quito), i was able to cheer up as he took me to places such as beach and shopping malls. He is such a good friend of mine who was an exchange student in my freshman year. We lived in the same dorm and took the same class together. We took the same philosophy class which he very enjoyed while i didn't. It's funny though because he is studying computer science and i psychology and this course was just something we took it for fun, not related at all to our majors. He still enjoys philosophy and continues to take some courses (well, he just graduated) here in Quito. Anyways, i am very grateful to have him as a friend because he really cares for me as a friend.

If it wasn't for my friends here in a remote land, i think i might have felt really lonely, even though i don't want to admit that. My friend's family is wonderful and i really feel a genuine love from this family. I am happy and glad to be here in Quito, Ecuador and i hope that i would continue to be open-minded and challenge myself.

Just received emails about updates of how my friends in the U.S. are doing and feels happy to know they are doing great! Even though we are all far apart, we are walking side by side, encouraging each other in our journey.