Thanks

As my time here draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about all of the people and things that have gotten me through the past five months in good humor. In no particular order, here they are:

The Magic Bean for keeping their ice cream stand open until 10:30 pm. Every day of the week.
Tvshack.net for streaming LOST to those of us outside the continental U.S. and its territories.
Bungalow 6 for hosting the best Ladies Night in all of Quito every Wednesday.
The Supermaxi chain for providing most comforts of home and fresh bread at all hours.
David and the Gimnasio Forcenter staff for pumping the jams every morning while I learned how to pump iron.
The senoras for teaching me the secret to getting married on Monday afternoons.
My family for putting up with my spotty contact and for their hugs, felt even a hemisphere away.
Jimmy for making every day at FUDIS one to enjoy and for all of my huevos fritos.
The Team for their care packages and emails.
The owners of the Linksys wireless network whose internet I stole for the better part of 4 months.
My VASE friends for making every trip a true adventure, even if it was only to the Mariscal.
Coffee & Toffee for their chocolate volcano and their Wi-Fi.
Bob Marley and the Black Eyed Peas for providing the soundtrack to my time in Ecuador.
Sylvia for teaching me how to salsa like a pro.
My Kindle for saving me a fortune in baggage fees and making me look like a huge nerd.
Lonely Planet’s Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands Guide for being my bible and almost never steering me wrong.
Reese’s Pieces for being so damn delicious.
Café Killari for not charging tax, ever.
The best friends in the world for making me smile every time I opened my inbox.