made it to LA

but holding a squirmy baby - how do mom's get anything done? I will write in the morning, just wanted to say I made it safe and sound.

adios sur america

I feel like I should have these big feelings surrounding leaving south america. Right now it feels just kind of normal. I think I have so much practice leaving places lately that this just feels like another one of those. Also because I am flying into LA and not sure what I´m up to until being in Ashland on the 24th-25th before heading to Portland. Maybe if I were just flying to Portland the trip would feel more over than it does. I´m also sure that when I get home and have time to sit and hang out and wait to see what kind of stuff rises to the top of the simmer of my brain and emotions.

Being back in Quito shows me how much things have changed for me though. I am not scared like i was. Terrified to be on the trolley and such. Just feels normal. And I remember how much I was homesick for a while and didn´t want to continue my trip and just wanted to go home. I am so glad that I continued on. Thanks to lots of support and advice from most of you, so thanks for that.

I am mostly excited to see people´s eyeballs again. Hugs that aren´t virtual. Time to just sit and visit. Meet those babys.

I am so grateful that Holly is going to pick me up at LAX and I get to spend a couple of days with her family. And if the stars all line up I may get to find a visit with my friend Matt in there that I haven´t seen in years. Depending on cost, I may try to rent a car to meander up the coast with. Or I might take the bus. Or the train. Oh, who knows. Man, do I miss driving. So much. There is a freedom there that we know about but until it is really taken away from you, you don´t appreciate as much. Even when you don´t have your own car at home, you are with friends in their cars and you can still go where you want. When you can only go on the route that is the route and that is all there is to it, you notice the lack of freedom.

It is fantastic to see Phil and Ruby again, I´m so glad I´ve gotten a couple of days with them.
see you soon!
mj

sand is everywhere

swim in the ocean, have some food, have a cocktail, swim in the ocean, eat some food, drink a beer. all day. every day. Canoa is a delightful vacation.

I´ll head out of here tomorrow night for a couple of days in Quito and fly to LA on Thursday. This is hard to believe. Already.

But I chose the keyboard with frustrating sticky keys so I am not going to write much, not that the last week isn´t covered by the first line.

Trying to stay curious. Trying not to be nervous. Sometimes I am more successful than other times.

Love you,
mj

aaaah. made it.

Made it to Canoa! Pretty easily actually. I only had to wait an hour and a half in Trujillo for a bus to Piura. I was thinking of staying in Piura for a night but as the bus pulled into town we watched a lady get mugged in bright daylight with people around and nobody helped her so I thought maybe I wouldn´t stay there after all. Luckily, the bus station that I was catching the next bus from was across the street from where we landed and I only had to wait two hours for the bus to Guayaquil. Border crossing was totally uneventful and while the bus got stopped and luggage searched a couple of times by Ecuadorian police, they didn´t bother my bags and everything was fine. Got to Guayaquil at six AM and I definitely thought I would stay a night there but when I went to buy a ticket for a bus out the next morning it turned out that a bus was going all the way direct to San Vicente, leaving in six minutes so I just went and got on it. Got to San Vicente just in time to catch the bus to Canoa that was driving by. So I arrived in Canoa in record time. Tired of bus rides, but nothing that a swim in the ocean and an ice cold beer didn´t fix really quickly.

It is great to see Elizabeth and Mauricio again and find the pace of this sleepy little beach town. I have been swimming in the ocean and reading lots and drinking some beers and a piña colada or two. Just as it should be. I think I will go and do a sea kayaking cave tour tomorrow or monday. Maybe a paragliding trip. It´s money I don´t really have, but being toward the end of this trip I feel more like ¨fuck it, when will i have another chance? It´s only money, and that can be earned¨ than I did before. We´ll see. I might just lay on the beach for a week as well.

So here I am safe and sound.
love you,
em