Here’s the truth: You can’t know how you’re going to feel about something until that “something” is actually happening. Because guess what? The only way to figure out what works for you is to try things, so you can’t be afraid to try things. And only until you learn to let go your fears, you can rise above them.
I guess true failure is when you don’t let yourself off the perfectionism hook long enough to experiment and test and live. Experimentation is everything. So I told myself… “Listen, I get that you’re scared. But I also get that you want to change your life here. And it’s not gonna happen if you keep… waiting.”
And so I decided to go out and try things until I figured out whether it worked for me. Because really, what’s the worst that could happen? Winding up not liking the city, returning home and stay scared? Well, congratulations, THEN YOU KNOW. And that alone is a big success.
But so I made a turnaround in my mind and started to open up myself for this country. And from then I realized… We all have eyes, but not all of us can see. Everything depends on whether you are ready for it or not. And after one difficult week I felt ready! Finally!
#selfie (not so great hihi)
The weekend started and I decided to go out and do something on my own, without the protection of my guest family. And it didn’t matter what, just something to make me feel fine. And so I decided for the first time in my life to do something I usually have an aversion to: tourist buses. 🙂 This time I could only see the advantages: cheap, easy, safe, punctual, comfortable, educative and fun!
And so I decided my Day Tour with the Hop On – Hop Off Service in Quito. And I turned out to see a lot of things:
I really enjoyed being alone all these hours, and finally and did not only feel FREEDOM but I also start to appreciate the beauty and the culture of this city (even though it stays hard to focus on it sometimes hihi). Note: Latin American capital cities are known to be not the most beautiful cities in the continent, due to a high population, traffic problems, air pollution, crime, violence and so on.
It was like I had different eyes to see, different ears to hear, a different nose to smell and a different mouth to taste. Everything was getting better today! I enjoyed my time and felt accomplished when I got back home. I had not been robbed, I had not felt scared or unsafe, I had not felt lonely and I even had the biggest portion of sun during this whole week. God’s sign to say things were moving on from now on?!
Sunday was also a lovely day. However it begun with pooring rain, the weather got better and me, Francisco (my host father) and Nicolas (another guest staying in the house), decided to go out for a tour and we rented bicycles. On Sunday the city is partially car-free so that cyclists and pedestrians have time and space to enjoy their ‘healthy’ free weekends.
Francisco guided us up north towards the old airport of Quito. Nowadays, there is a new airport build about one hour distance of the city center. Therefore, the old airport was closed and is now used as a bycicle park. And I have to say, it had something ‘different’: riding the bike on an airport strip!! It was a nice experience, even though the altitude made it difficult to breath for me sometimes… 
On our way home, we stopped by the local market of Santa Clara and had some lunch there. I wasn’t really sure about the hygiene and the quality of the food there, but as everybody ate (and I promised myself “if you never try, you’ll never know…”) I had a delicious plate of fresh fish with rice, plantains and spicy sauce. 
Afterwards, I decided to pass by the bakery for something sweet because I was starving (because of the exercise or the altitude?). I bought ‘Tres Leches’ desserts and took it home for the whole family. I really feel so good there with them, every day I feel blessed to say that I feel like ‘going home’…
Around 4 o’clock it started to rain again, so we felt lucky to be inside again. Everybody was tired and as the weather was bad, we all felt like doing a siesta. Nothing more relaxing on a Sunday afternoon!
And so, my dear friends… After all I had a great weekend and I feel like I have found new energy and strength for next week! I hope you are as happy as me to feel things are getting better. And as you might have noticed: I have tried and now I know… Hey, everything is okay! 😉
From Julie with Love 