Hi, it’s Sam Pearl Schwartz, one of the two leaders on this trip. I have some free time this afternoon (a rarity), so I thought I’d switch things up a bit and actually write a blog post myself. Today is the final day of the service portion of our trip, and tomorrow we embark on a long drive to Cotopaxi National Park. Personally I could not be more excited to begin the final chapters of our adventure, but it is with a heavy heart that I leave Turuco.

First and foremost, our host family has been beyond incredible. The accommodation itself is amazing (we always have hot water, we have a gorgeous common space, etc.), but it’s so much more than that. Pati, our host mom, can only be described as a superwoman. Every day she cooks delicious food for us, cleans up after us, interacts with each and every student, assists us whenever an issue arises, and is just an all around delightful person to be around. Her husband Rumi, while around less often due to work, has been a wealth of knowledge with regards to indigenous tradition and medicine, and has accompanied us on multiple excursions. Erin and I feel privileged to call them our friends, and I believe the students feel the same way.

In addition, we have accomplished so much at our work site in Morales Chupa. During our goodbye party yesterday, the community members who spoke consistently expressed their gratitude, and it really put in perspective how much work we’ve done in these two weeks. Admittedly I think everyone (me included) had points during the work days where they were tired and utterly exhausted, but seeing the fruits of our labor has been incredible.

Finally, living together in the same space for so long has given the group an incredible opportunity to create meaningful and lasting friendships—both within our group and outside of it. Erin and I have truly loved to see everyone become closer, and cherish the moments where everyone is laughing and smiling together. We are so grateful to have such thoughtful and appreciative students on our trip.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. This will likely be the only post either Erin or I do, leaving instead this space for the students’ voices, so I thought it would be worth putting some thought into this. Back to the regularly programmed (and much shorter) student blogs in the days to come—stay tuned!

Un abrazo,

Sam (& Erin)