Asi Es La Vida

Life is slowly returning back to normal after returning from the paradise that is Baños. The weekend of my return was marked by my first petty theft. I was warned multiple times that chances were I would be pickpocketed or have something walk off, but thus far I had been lucky. I left my leather jacket on a chair while I went to go dancing and indeed, it did walk off. I surprised myself by reacting with a shrug and simply saying "Asi es la vida!" (That's life, more or less) Maybe I left a little bit of my uptight DC self in Baños with the tons of Karrioka I rinsed out of my hair and clothes.

Life as of late has involved some difficult situations and a lot of frustration. I won't go into too much detail, but those of you who know me know that I like to be in control and lately there have been a lot of things in my life that I'm just unable to control for myriad different reasons. My new-found Ecuadorian cool hasn't gotten deep enough to keep me calm for all of these things, but I'm getting by alright. My honeymoon period in Ecuador is somewhat over and I'm having to worry about a lot of different things back home from taxes to grad school security deposits. These worries coupled with a notoriously unreliable internet connection sometimes find me in a very frustrated state!

All that said, I'm still enjoying Ecuador a great deal. Whenever I get really frustrated, I take a cup of coffee up to the roof and enjoy my mountain view and it helps put things in perspective. Yesterday I was kidnapped after church by two different families eager to welcome me into their homes for almuerzo and cafecito. I finally got home at 8 pm, after being told that I would soon be tricked into eating cuy (guinea pig). All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday.