Ever since my father took me on a business trip to Shanghai, China and Taiwan in the fall of 2016, I have been in a constant state of wanting to travel. I saw an entirely different culture than what I was used to, and was able to get first-hand experience on what the real world was like. The business meetings, the exotic foods, the crazy methods of transportation, and even not being able to speak the language was the most thrilling experience of my life. When I got the opportunity to travel to Ecuador, I had much different feelings. I wasn’t going to be with my father, I was going to be with a bunch of people that I haven’t met, and people that have already had some past experiences with each other. I was traveling with people that were much older than me. They had more education, they had more life experience and I felt very inadequate compared to all of them. I was very nervous the upcoming months towards our departure. Most of my nervousness was blown away by the first few days.
My experience in Ecuador has given me so much to look at, and gave me some lessons that I believe will stick with me the rest of my life. To give you a little about myself, I struggle with making friends, and developing close relationships. I was very worried that I was going to be traveling basically ‘alone’ this entire trip. That was not the case. My classmates that I traveled with, were so openly accepting of me. After the first day, I felt that I actually belonged with them. To me, it looked like not even one of my classmates thought any differently of me, just because they didn’t know me. I learned that traveling is one of the fastest and easiest ways to make connections. Even though I was younger and less mature, and less educated, they all treated me as an equal. It was one of the most amazing feelings, and made me forget about all my worries and problems, so I could focus on living in the moment.
The biggest thing I took away from my experience in Ecuador, I got from a community in Agato. About a week into our trip, we got the amazing opportunity to be housed by the locals of a smaller community. Our travel group was split up into smaller groups of 2-3 people, and we all went to different families for the next 2 days. Our group still gathered during the day for various activities, but come evening, we all had different experiences with the families we were staying with. I was split up with one other guy. My initial reaction to seeing how this family lived, was shocked. I was shocked to see how happy and welcoming this family was. The mother of the household looked so happy the entire time we were with her. She cooked our meals, gave us a bed to sleep on, while she was caring for a house with 3 children, 2 dogs, and a husband. Let me not forget, that their house wasn’t even completely built yet. The entire top story of their house was still being constructed while we were staying with them. They did not have a lot, they had a very small house, a small garden, and just, not a lot of commodities that I was used to having. But this small two day experience with them, crushed some lingering feelings I had with my past. After talking, and having them teach me how to (poorly) play the mandolin, and just watching the family interact, I felt terrible. Throughout the last few years of my life, I have been feeling very sorry for myself, saying how unfair, and unhappy I was. These people with almost nothing to offer welcomed me in and gave me so much, still looked like they were the happiest people in the world. After feeling terrible for about 15 minutes, I realized that I am beyond lucky, and should be happy with what I have. This time with the Agato community has helped me pick myself up and carry myself in a happier way.
This trip to Ecuador has given me so much. At first, I thought this trip would only give me some more education in science but it turned out to give me a better education not just on volcanoes, water properties, weather and other small science topics but a better understanding of what being happy really is. Traveling to East Asia with my father opened my horizons on wanting to see more of the world. Traveling to Ecuador with my classmates and professors showed me how much I can learn and how much more I still can learn. I could not ask for a better experience.
