ECUADOR - My June/July 2003 Trip Journal -- by Donna R. Carter
Page Twenty-Five
~^~ The Last Morning and the Return Flight ~^~ Monday ~^~ July 21, 2003
Monday morning dawned clear and bright as I looked out on Pichincha. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, from what I could see. (Of course, it was 5:45 a.m.)
I got out of bed and took the laundry out of the dryer (I had done my last load the night before so I could go back with all clean clothes) I gathered the clothes I was going to wear on the plane (black stretch pants and a long black t-shirt with a Guayasamin painting printed on it) and I went upstairs to take a shower and get started on the day.
I figured with a slatted windows, the people below couldn't see me and I could see the mountains, so I cranked the slats open in such a way as to preserve modesty and still enjoy the outside view while I took my shower.
I finished my shower, took everything downstairs to my room and put together all the things I needed for the next few days once I got back, so I could have them all in one suitcase and the things I didn't need immediately went into the other suitcase or the duffel bag.
The bathroom upstairs started glubbing. They called someone to come have a look and it was decided that the water needed to be shut off completely. Since the Howards lived right next to the guest house, they asked Lois Reimer at the guest house if we could use one of their rooms for a bathroom until the plumbing problem was fixed. No problem. The end room closest to the Howard's house was available, and the back gate was left open for that purpose.
I snuck upstairs and took the time to pop an email to dad and Jeff before we took off to El Bosque and SuperMaxi.
The Umble's were coming in from Shell that evening, after I left... with their kids. They were planning a trip to the beach together on Wednesday. One hoped the plumbing problem was resolved before they all got there.
All my film canisters of dirt from everywhere were lined up on the chest freezer in the laundry room, so I collected them. Chuck had added a canister of ash from Reventador's eruption a couple of years ago. There were about 12 film canisters of dirt, each labeled from where it was taken. I had three more empties to carry with me on the trip -- one for the Quito airport, one for San José, Costa Rica; and one for Guatemala City, Guatemala.
I still had to do one last shopping trip at El Bosque, including a trip to the SuperMaxi grocery store to pick up some chocolates and some humitas (and hope that they would get through customs), and I wanted to find some T-shirts for my nephews.
Anita mentioned that it looked clear - she wanted to take me out of the city to see if the snowcaps were clear on the horizon as well.
We drove out of town toward the town of Cayambe, but the horizon was clouded over. A bit of Cotopaxi was showing, and Cayambe was fairly clear. I took a few pictures and we drove back into town, stopping at El Bosque, but it was still a bit early for the stores to open. The SuperMaxi was open, so I got my chocolates, some filled hard candy, and a stick of butter (for the pancitos I planned to get later) and then I looked in the T-shirt shops. I found a shirt I liked, but the transfer wasn't available at the moment. They called their other stores at Quicentro, the CCI and El Jardín, and they were available there.
We went back to the van and headed back to Anita's house, but we stopped first at a panadería (bread bakery) for me to pick up the pancitos (little bread buns), an oreja (a heart-shaped hard, sugar-coated pastry), and a bottle of green-apple flavored Fioravanti (carbonated cola).
Arriving at the house, we quickly informed Chuck where we were going and the time I had to be at the airport (12:30). It was about 11:30 already. Anita put the butter in a low-sided tupperware and gave me a knife. The bag of pancitos was in the van already. On the way to Quicentro, I was buttering and eating pancitos like they were going out of style (it was my breakfast - and my lunch, after all.... and the last time I could say "Ecuadorian Carbs Don't Count") I was laughing - and I thought it was very nice of Anita to accommodate my strange behaviour - and understand where it was coming from.
Making it through the rather heavy traffic, we arrived at Quicentro, Anita dropped me off at a main entry into the mall, near the store at which I needed to shop.
I hurried in while she looked for a place to park. They didn't have one of the transfers I was looking for (and the first place had had it, but I figured I'd get them all at the same place) oh well. I did find the Ecuadorian crest and got two t-shirts for myself with that - one in my current size and one a size smaller to have one to wear when I shrink (Smart, aren't I?) Then I chose three different transfers and shirt colors for my nephews. Almost all the transfers were puff 3D (except for the one I got for my youngest nephew). Imagine this: Five quality T-shirts, at a total cost of less than $25.00! Sometimes the prices here in the U.S. make me shake my head with wonder.
I rushed out to the van and we took off for the airport with about 15 minutes to get there.... and I'm buttering and consuming pancitos as we go.
Anita dropped me off at the airport and we said "Goodbye" and I went and checked in my bags. They said there might not be enough room for all three (but they didn't make me pay for extra baggage!) and I told them which one to use as the standby, (the duffel bag). I paid the airport tax, got my seating assignment (11F) and entered through customs. No first class seating for me on the way back - but at least I didn't have to worry about paying $100 for my extra luggage.
Somehow, the pretty straw hat that I had purchased for Melissa was stolen in the waiting area of the airport. Go figure. I had had it on my head, but taken it off to let my hair breathe and I was a bit sweaty and didn't want to mess up the hat, so I set it on my luggage. I have no idea how someone snuck off with it and then managed to hide it, but there you go. I was mad, but then again, I have to admit, I didn't really like the idea of wearing this "girlie" straw hat with a peach ribbon, with my black outfit anyway... and it was one less thing to have to keep track of. I kind of figured Melissa wouldn't wear it much anyway either, so ... the fur-lined leather hat I had gotten her to match her leather jacket would just have to do...
As I was sitting in the waiting area, a young Ecuadorian girl (María-Elena)sat down next to me. She was 15 and heading to Boston. We seemed to hit it off well and she wanted to sit by me on the plane. I told her if nobody was in the seat next to me, or if someone was traveling alone, maybe she could swap seats with them. We figured we'd try to do that.
I took out my canister labelled "Aeropuerto Quito" and she saw that I had this duffel carry-on as well as the shigra with the vase in it and my hands were full. She offered to collect the dirt for me and laughed. I let her. When we were called to board, we walked out onto the tarmac and she scooped up some dirt from the garden outside.
As I took a step up onto the stairway up to the plane, I realized as I lifted my foot... that I didn't know when the next time would be that I would put it back on the ground in my heart home. I paused, and then continued to walk up the steps... briefly wanting to rush back down, kiss my fingers and touch the ground (albeit airport pavement) one more time to say "Goodbye" again.
I erased the thought and stepped into the plane, found my seat, put my duffle in the overhead compartment and sat down. María-Elena found her seat, and someone was sitting next to me. We asked if she was travelling alone, and she was. She agreed to the switch and sat back in María-Elena's seat so María-Elena could sit with me.
I took pictures of Quito as we taxi'd down the runway and took off into the air. I watched the ground disappear behind us, covered by clouds, as we continued northward. I had thought that I would cry, but perhaps it was a good thing that a 15 year old was sitting next to me ... I didn't cry. I just talked with her about her plans once she reached Boston.
The flight was uneventful. I disembarked in San José to change planes. It was a two hour wait. I couldn't leave the airport and there was no garden on the tarmac like in Quito. I wondered how I would get some dirt? I went to the ladies' room and there was the cleaning crew. I asked one of them if they could do me a "strange favor" and collect a full film canister of dirt outside for me. She obliged, going so far as to wash off the outside of the film canister when she brought it back in. So I got my Costa Rica dirt.
When I boarded the plane in San José, headed for Chicago O'Hare with a stop in Guatemala City, Guatemala, there was a lady in the seat ahead of me who started talking with me before the plane ever left the ground. Both seats next to me were empty, so we decided to sit together again. I was sitting in the Emergency Exit aisle, so the tray tables were locked and we had to use the arm tables. My arm table didn't extend far enough, so I used half of the middle seat table -- she was sitting in the aisle seat and used her table and the other half of the middle table.
She talked almost the whole way back to O'Hare. Very nice lady. I think maybe I got about 1/2 hour of dozing in there somewhere.
When we touched down in Guatemala, I asked a flight attendant if they could please pick up a canister of dirt for me since I couldn't get off the plane. They said no problem, but I would have to claim it in customs. I said no problem with that, and they got me a canister of dirt from a plant in the airport there. My collection was complete.
1:35 a.m., we touched down in Chicago. Everyone deboarded the plane, passed through customs (surly people behind the customs desk. I was a lucky one and got a "welcome back" even if it wasn't with a smile. We all made our way to the baggage claim area. I got my duffle bag ("Wait, wasn't that supposed to be the standby? Maybe I was lucky and all my bags came through after all!" I thought.) Then I saw my large suitcase and it had the "standby" sticker partially on it. "Okay, they put the sticker on the wrong bag, but at least it made it," I thought, and I waited for the suitcase with the stuff for the family reunion... and all my clothes.
.... and I waited.
.... and I waited.
All the bags came off the ramp.... no suitcase. They turned off the carousel and ... no suitcase. THAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE! How could they do that??? I was NOT happy.
They were calling me to leave the area. That was the last flight and they were closing the terminal. "Please leave" they said. "But... my suitcase! The most important suitcase! Could it have been left on the plane?" They said, "Please go out there. Someone will meet you out there." ... I was sort of verbally shoved out the door so they could close the area.
I walked out the double doors and there was Jeff and Melissa ... but I was so distracted and distraught about my suitcase I hardly gave them a proper hello. I was angry!
I stood there, waiting for that "someone" to meet me in the amorphous "out there" for about 1/2 an hour, and then Jeff went upstairs and found someone at the ticket counter. She came down and filled out a form and said that the earliest I could expect the suitcase would be on Thursday morning, because their next flight into O'Hare wouldn't be until then.
Lovely. Thursday morning... the day after the reunion is over and my nieces are already back in the northwest. Lovely. All that taffy from Banos getting stale and sugaring. Lovely. I was really really not happy.
I filled out the paperwork and Jeff and Melissa helped me get my bags to the car. "What do you have in here? Lead?" They were packed very full and very tight, and although they supposedly weighed in at only 50 lbs. each, it felt like double that. An had packed my duffel bag super well, and it was stuffed like a cooked turkey on Thanksgiving.
We drove home, about 2 hours. Melissa fell asleep in the back seat and I was relating stories of the trip to dh. We arrived home at about 4:15 or so, finally fell asleep at around 5:00. Yes, I did wake up at 5:45, but I made myself go back to sleep again and didn't get up until about 8:30. Everyone else was still asleep. We were scheduled to head down to the family reunion that evening and I wanted to finish unpacking the bags that had come with me at least, before we left.
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