SOMEWHERE OUT THERE

Pancho, Joe and Tim about to leave for the river trip
 

It's 12:30 am here in Tena. I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight. One reason is that I have a pile mountain of clean laundry on the bed that should have been folded and put away yesterday. I've already scooted it to one side, then to the other, and tried to sleep next to it and on it, but it didn't work. However, the main reason I can't sleep is because my husband is not here and even if you threatened to take my chocolate bar that I have hidden in the back of my freezer, I could not tell you exactly where he is right now. How did this happen and why did I allow it?

 I can really only answer one of those questions since he is grown, and I can't "allow" or "not allow" him to do things he wants.
It happened because Joe is friends with Tim who works for/owns River People, Tena's oldest and most reliable river rafting outfitter whose office is located on 15 de Noviembre. Tim invited Joe and Pancho to come along with him on a tour he was taking a group of people from Quito on. At 1pm today the boys loaded up Tim's car while I watched, pretty much helplessly. Although I'm very excited for Joe, I can't help but feel a little bit worried for him. Ok, and maybe a bit of jealousy added in that mix. After all, this is not the regular rafting trips he does with Tim that's over in a few hours. No, this one will last three nights, three days and will involve camping in a cave among other cool shenanigans. To even get to where they are starting this trip involves a seven hour drive deeper into the jungle. As much as I love to camp, this would totally be the highlight of my life...if I was invited to tag along... which I wasn't. 

I let Joe borrow my pink Cannon camera. I know the boys are going to bully him mercilessly about the pink camera, but it's the only one we have and I begged him to take lots of pictures on all that I'm missing out on. I also think they will tease him about wearing his glasses and bringing his contact case and solution to the jungle trip. Real men travel blind. I also think they will question why he brought several types and sizes of swiss army knives that are too dull to cut ice-cream and are really only good for maybe picking at a hangnail. The saddest addition to his little travel knap-sack was his Teva sandals that literally have no soles. They tore clean off about four river trips ago. The way he just stood there as Tim and Pancho loaded up the boats, paddles, coolers, and supplies, I could tell Joe was even questioning himself why a boy who grew up in treeless, waterless Indiana was going on a three day class five jungle/rafting trip with broken shoes and a pink camera. I can't wait until he gets back so he can tell me all about it!
 

LIVING GRAND

As you know, we'll be moving to Tena, Ecuador in just a few days. We'll probably not own a washer and dryer right away, nor indulge in common comforts such as hot water on demand, clean drinking water from the tap, air-conditioning, bathtubs, international dining options, privacy/personal space, flat-screen TVs, or cuddling my toes into soft wall-to-wall carpeting. In a few days, all of that will be a distant memory. To replace such luxuries will be screen-only windows, washing and drying laundry by hand, "soaking" in the river instead of a bathtub, overcrowded public transportation, flickering electricity, eating chicken and rice everyday of my life, and constantly mopping the dust off our cold wall-to-wall ceramic tile floors. Now mind you, this is the life we CHOOSE to enter into, but for now I'll savor every sip of real cafe au'lait and other things we used to take for granted. Tonight we're going out to dinner one last time and I just might order brats and wurst or whatever sounds non-Latin.

Last weekend we drove to a suburb in Atlanta to get our 12-IX Visas stamped. We got to stay at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead. Glass, gold, marble, and down enveloped us like chocolate on a Smore and we were lovin' it. Well, and add to the glee that we only paid $65 for the night on Priceline. We walked with our heads high out of the self-park garage after parking our Saturn a block away while Porsche convertibles and Lambs whizzed past us in a state of haughty frustration by the valet's. While women dressed in furs (it was 75 degrees) and men with top-hats made dinner reservations with the concierge, we asked the doorman if there was anything good to eat in walking distance along the lines of an Applebees. He pointed the way to a great Cantina with $3 tacos and $2 beer specials. At least it wasn't chicken and rice.

After dinner, we spent the night gawking at our room with a view on the 19th floor and soaking our feet in the over sized tub. The highlight was the ($10,000?) feather bed and linens that felt like sleeping on a baby angel's wing. We watched my favorite show "The Amazing Race" one more time and I cheered for the twins who got booted off at the end. I got sad and quiet for a moment as I reflected on how K and I were going to audition for that show in Charlotte last season until we found out they were only inviting repeat players. Totally unjust.

The next morning we indulged in a real breakfast and hot coffee at The Flying Biscuit, also in walking distance. Lunch was again at the Cantina because you just can't beat $3 fish tacos and ice-cold Dos Equis Amber. We ended the trip by doing a little shopping. Not at the high-end mall in Buckhead next to Whole Foods, but the Marshalls next to another self-park garage.

In total, we were in Buckhead for less than 24 hours but sometimes little getaways like that are just as nice as week-long excursions. We came back that night to 7 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 2 dogs, 1 grumpy kid and 500 tons of items that need to be packed and ready to go by Tuesday to Ecuador. In about three days, we'll be flying over the Grand Hyatt Buckhead and...well, I'm not sure what'll be going through our heads at that moment, but I hope to feel peace with all the "things" we're leaving behind.