If this trip is teaching me anything so far, it’s to have patience and flexibility.
I’m not used to having free time in my schedule. I’m used to being busy from the morning I wake up until I go to sleep with school and work and cramming everything I want to do into the minutes between. I like having organization in my life and I’m very plan-oriented. For at least the last year, I was scheduling most of my day-to-day life down to the half hour or even into 15 minute segments. Now, I finish class at noon and have almost nothing else on my plate.
I’m not saying class is easy. After one week, we had an exam on an array of material that usually would’ve taken at least a month to cover. We also had presentations and readings assigned. There was plenty of hard work. But we still would have multiple afternoon hours open, and it just felt wrong to me at first that we weren’t taking every opportunity to go do something in and around Quito. I’d get antsy and aggravated and annoyed. I felt like I wasn’t getting to enjoy my time here because we weren’t taking advantage of exploring the world around us while we are still on the mainland.
Of course, relaxing IS a form of enjoying the place you’re in. I wasn’t letting myself see that hanging out at a café to chat for hours or taking a siesta at home is just as valid a way to spend time. True, I wish I’d gotten to see more of Quito this week because our time here is so limited, but I definitely would’ve enjoyed this week more if I’d been ok with just letting the afternoons go without plans.
This weekend was the perfect collection of incidences to force me to just enjoy the moment. A group of students and I wanted to explore Mindo – a beautiful and tiny town a couple hours north of Quito in the cloud forest region. We had set plans to meet early and make a morning bus on time to get there before 11 and go exploring. I and another girl made specific plans to take a certain bus back so we could have a day trip but still be back to have our Sundays full in Quito (I had plans to go up the Teleferico and go hiking).
When we arrived at the bus station, they were out of tickets. The next bus we could get on didn't leave until 11 am. Plan shift number 1.
We found a huge market of locals selling produce, meat, fish, meals, clothing, accessories, cell phones, etc, so we had no problem spending the time until the next bus. I had been annoyed that our day in Mindo was already shortened, but the market was one of the coolest accidental finds and made the wait totally worth it.
When arriving in Mindo, we found that the evening bus was full as well. Plan shift number 2. We could either abandon all Sunday plans and stay two days or we could limit our day to two and a half hours in Mindo. Stubborn to our Sunday plans, we chose the latter.
An hour later we were already falling in love with Mindo. We changed our plans (shift #3) to call off our Sundays, lose the afternoon bus tickets we already bought, and spend the night. We had no change of clothes, no toiletries or deodorant or extra food or water, we were low on cash, and I was already hurting badly for a shower. Recipe for disaster for my typical method of functioning.
It was one of the best choices I’ve made during this trip. Between exploring the beauty of the place, the deliciousness of the locally made chocolate, and the locals’ love to dance, the weekend turned into an incredibly fun experience. It happened to be during some fiesta days in Mindo. As it got later, the music got louder, the beers became more numerous, our Spanish and our dancing feet became more confident, and we had an extremely memorable night.
I returned this afternoon coated with a sticky crust of sweat, dirt, spilled beer, bug spray, sunscreen, and a huge smile. It’s still going to be a challenge for me to adjust to a slower pace and the need for flexibility in planning, but I feel a lot more positive about handling those moments. I also am determined to work on valuing the time and place of a moment rather than worry about the next one.
I’m not used to having free time in my schedule. I’m used to being busy from the morning I wake up until I go to sleep with school and work and cramming everything I want to do into the minutes between. I like having organization in my life and I’m very plan-oriented. For at least the last year, I was scheduling most of my day-to-day life down to the half hour or even into 15 minute segments. Now, I finish class at noon and have almost nothing else on my plate.
I’m not saying class is easy. After one week, we had an exam on an array of material that usually would’ve taken at least a month to cover. We also had presentations and readings assigned. There was plenty of hard work. But we still would have multiple afternoon hours open, and it just felt wrong to me at first that we weren’t taking every opportunity to go do something in and around Quito. I’d get antsy and aggravated and annoyed. I felt like I wasn’t getting to enjoy my time here because we weren’t taking advantage of exploring the world around us while we are still on the mainland.
Of course, relaxing IS a form of enjoying the place you’re in. I wasn’t letting myself see that hanging out at a café to chat for hours or taking a siesta at home is just as valid a way to spend time. True, I wish I’d gotten to see more of Quito this week because our time here is so limited, but I definitely would’ve enjoyed this week more if I’d been ok with just letting the afternoons go without plans.
This weekend was the perfect collection of incidences to force me to just enjoy the moment. A group of students and I wanted to explore Mindo – a beautiful and tiny town a couple hours north of Quito in the cloud forest region. We had set plans to meet early and make a morning bus on time to get there before 11 and go exploring. I and another girl made specific plans to take a certain bus back so we could have a day trip but still be back to have our Sundays full in Quito (I had plans to go up the Teleferico and go hiking).
When we arrived at the bus station, they were out of tickets. The next bus we could get on didn't leave until 11 am. Plan shift number 1.
We found a huge market of locals selling produce, meat, fish, meals, clothing, accessories, cell phones, etc, so we had no problem spending the time until the next bus. I had been annoyed that our day in Mindo was already shortened, but the market was one of the coolest accidental finds and made the wait totally worth it.
When arriving in Mindo, we found that the evening bus was full as well. Plan shift number 2. We could either abandon all Sunday plans and stay two days or we could limit our day to two and a half hours in Mindo. Stubborn to our Sunday plans, we chose the latter.
An hour later we were already falling in love with Mindo. We changed our plans (shift #3) to call off our Sundays, lose the afternoon bus tickets we already bought, and spend the night. We had no change of clothes, no toiletries or deodorant or extra food or water, we were low on cash, and I was already hurting badly for a shower. Recipe for disaster for my typical method of functioning.
It was one of the best choices I’ve made during this trip. Between exploring the beauty of the place, the deliciousness of the locally made chocolate, and the locals’ love to dance, the weekend turned into an incredibly fun experience. It happened to be during some fiesta days in Mindo. As it got later, the music got louder, the beers became more numerous, our Spanish and our dancing feet became more confident, and we had an extremely memorable night.
I returned this afternoon coated with a sticky crust of sweat, dirt, spilled beer, bug spray, sunscreen, and a huge smile. It’s still going to be a challenge for me to adjust to a slower pace and the need for flexibility in planning, but I feel a lot more positive about handling those moments. I also am determined to work on valuing the time and place of a moment rather than worry about the next one.