The Inevitable

July 25th

Quito, Ecuador

All good things must come to an end sometime. Not that good things don’t continue to happen in other ways afterwards, but with the end of my time here in Ecuador quickly approaching, I had to face the fact that some of my best friends are returning back to the United States today. Dennis, Tyler, and Kelli, as well as the Servant Life group we had from Texas and Florida, returned to Quito today to catch their plane tonight. It was very bittersweet trip, full of talking about our most memorable moments here in Ecuador this summer and what we wanted to do when we get back to the states.

Most of the day was spent traveling to Quito. About halfway there, we got stuck on the Pan-American highway in the traffic from the Tour de Ecuador that is going on the next few days. Taking roads that were a bit out of the way, we finally got to the center of Quito and visited the El Jardin, Ecuador’s largest mall. It’s an upscale, modern, and very American mall so finding American fast food in the food court was no problem. In hindsight, McDonald’s wasn’t the best choice (at least my stomach didn’t think so), but it was a great time of fellowship with the group.

With several hours left to kill, we headed to the Artesan market in Quito to shop around for awhile. Anything Ecuadorian that you could possibly want, you could find in the market. Before heading to the airport, we made a last stop at T.G.I. Fridays’ to once again acclimate the group slowly back to American culture. From there, we went to the airport where we said our last goodbyes. It’s always hard saying goodbye, especially at airports, but goodbyes to your best friends are never really permanent. Sometimes, we have the chance to renew friendships and sometimes not. Maybe it’s the inevitability that we hate most. With that said, I couldn’t wish for a better group of young Christian men and women to hang around this summer.

I said the day was bittersweet because as I was saying goodbye to a group, my church was flying into Quito at 11pm. They arrived safe and sound and I was thrilled to see my Dad and the rest of my friends from my church. This week will be my last for a while here in Ecuador. No doubt, saying goodbye will be hard, but we can always rest in the fact that God is in complete control of our lives’ direction. For that reason, the future always seems so bright to me.