Que Bestia Como Ha Pasado el Tiempo….

How crazy the time has passed.

This phrase has been resounding in my thoughts the past few weeks here in Ecuador. It´s hard to believe that in a few short weeks I´ll be returning home to family, friends, and normal university life after almost 7 full months of international travel.
Staying long-er term, living, in a different country does things to you. Good, difficult, challenging, wonderful, and well worth it things. The day to day can sometimes feel mundane, unadventurous, unconsequential, as is the case with most day to day lives. But looking back on the relatively short three months that I´ve been here so far, I can´t help but marvel at the journey that I´ve been on, the longest abroad experience that I´ve had in one country, and definitely the most formative. I´ve learned more than I could´ve imagined in these last three months–about myself, about Spanish, about the culture, and about real life. Things I took for granted, or didn´t even note as an item of consequence are now treasures I hold dear. Things such as being able to get in a car and drive to where I want to go instead of strategically identifying the best bus route, walking alone (especially at night), hearing American/English music in public spaces, not having to feel like Frogger every time I cross the street, and even flushing toilet paper again.