December 25, 2011

DAY 38


Christmas day in Ecuador, I made a friend, Andres, who works in the restaurant and everyday he likes to practice his English with me. The food is always excellent and the plates are skillfully decorated with sauces making patterns on the plate. There is always too much food every meal and each meal always has a dessert. Today's lunch ended with a type of sorbet like dessert made from naranjilla. I found out it is "one of the lost fruits of the Incas, the usually spineless naranjilla is believed to be indigenous and most abundant in Peru, Ecuador and southern Colombia."

A day of reflection and contemplation, all the stores are closed and I spent this day in my hotel room leaving only for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the restaurant.

How did I come to be here?

It was a calling from every cell in my body. Where to take the journey or what form the journey would be, I did not know. I sat in my sparse San Francisco apartment in late August and knew
I was being called and I must answer.

There was a moment while looking out the window at a clear blue sky, a moment of feeling peace in that present moment but the clouds were lingering on the horizon.

The time had come to prepare for a journey. I did not know where or how but just knew. My body screamed for it, every cell tingled at the thought of it, the excitement, the terror of the thought.

It was time to say my goodbyes and leave those I love behind, leave those comforting words and hugs from dear friends to go seek something that I did not now I was seeking. What would I find? What will the pages of this book not yet read reveal?

Far from those who love me away in a foreign land is difficult, especially when I do not know the language. At times I feel as though I am in this great play of life and no one ever gave me the script.

That far off land I had envisioned is no longer far, my home is now that far off land. Now as I open my eyes to the world around, I realize those around me are with me, here doing time on this planet just as I am. We are all here together spinning on this planet in a great blackness we conveniently ignore.

I am not alone on this journey, it is shared with those I encounter. Who knows what ripples in the calm waters I have caused. I am where I need to be at every moment that comes to pass.

 

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