The whole week before I was set to fly out, Heidi and I hadn't talked at all. All we knew was she was getting her retreat on and when she was done, we were meeting in Quito. The night before I left, I had a friend ask if I would bring some things down to a family. He had served his mission down there and he was very close with them. Of course I'll do it, I would love to meet them. He said they would be happy to pick me up from the airport and give me a bed for the night. Considering Heidi and I had not planned anything....sure why not. Heidi was coming into the city with a friend and they had booked a hostel. So I bailed on the hostel and went away with my new Ecuadorian family. Let me tell you, they speak zero English. And I speak barely passed high school Spanish. So you can imagine how many confused looks they were giving me. We get to their house and they start asking about my life and I sincerely tried to explain the Luge thing but sometimes you just gotta act like it never happened. And to be honest, a cute little family who lives in the heart of Quito could care less about the Winter Olympics in Russia. So as soon as I connected to wifi I get a hoard of texts from Heidi.
I've never been one to think I would enjoy retreating from the world and society. I'm a hit-the-ground-running type girl and someone with a severe case of FOMO. So escaping from society all together just wasn't my cup of tea...until last week. I've been wanting to do this retreat for awhile. Once I decided it was a must, Kate was the first to know about it...which also meant an obligatory sister adventure. It was decided she would meet me after I got my zen on in Ecuador. Last week, I arrived at a hacienda tucked away in the mountains of Otavalo. When I saw the hammock on my back porch and the hot tub overlooking the valley (it was heated with hot coals btw), I knew I was in for the real deal. A hippie, earthy, soul searching week. And I assumed that role quite nicely. I even found myself wearing socks with my Birkenstocks. You get the idea. |
AuthorYou like people? So do we. You want to be friends? So do we.
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