On my way out

It is weird to think that I will be away for three months very soon. So much can happen in three months. I am definitely going to miss out on a few things, which is fine, but at the same time I’d rather not have to go away.

Not that I’m being forced to leave. Quite the opposite. I am really looking forward to this opportunity to take a break from my life as it is right now and venture off to somewhere wondrous that I am not familiar with at all. It will be an experience that will very likely shape my life from now on to some extent.

For those of you who do not know the context of this post, I am off to Ecuador at the end of March and will be there until the beginning of July. The program that I am going on is organized by a professor at the University of Oregon, Peter Wetherwax, and is known as NEP, or Neo-tropical Ecology Program. Eighteen of us are flying down to Quito to study Spanish for a couple weeks before we meet up with Peter and begin exploring all of the wonders that Ecuador has to offer. Early on, we will be hiking in the Andes and even be reaching an elevation of 16,000 feet. Later, we will fly out to the Amazon basin in the east of Ecuador where we will spend about a week conducting research projects. The project I will be working on has to do with what are called phytotelmata, or temporary pools that collect in plants and plant detritus. I will be doing research into the kinds and relationships of organisms that live in these temporary environments. Later we will be going elsewhere in Ecuador, visiting the different kinds of rainforest and even hanging out in some of the canopies. Toward the end of the program, we’ll take a boat over to the Galapagos islands to see the amazing animals there. Our program actually finishes around May 23rd or so, but I will be staying an extra month and a week to take time to wander around Ecuador or find some sort of work or service opportunity. I don’t have anything truly planned yet, which is both exciting and extremely scary.

As I am not getting back until July, I will be missing the graduation of a number of people here at the U of O. I am also disappointed that I will not be able to visit all of my former classmates at Mudd while they are all still there. Many of them will have graduated and moved on to grad school or the real world. Even though I am sad that there is no guarantee that I will see them all again, I am so overjoyed at having had the chance to befriend them and I am happy for their success so far and I wish them luck for their future endeavors.

Like I’ve said before, the best thing about good friends is that they live in your heart forever, whether or not you see them again in this lifetime. This is not to say that I don’t expect to see many people from my past again, but instead that I will not be unsatisfied if I don’t in fact get that chance. Disappointed, perhaps, but not unsatisfied. I am perfectly satisfied with having met them and interacted with them and hugged them, etc. That definitely is something that I can never lose.

I am not sure what the extent of my communication from Ecuador will be, but perhaps I’ll find some time to jot something down here or on Facebook. Any pictures that I take will very likely have to wait until after I get back, but I promise that there will be some spectacular ones, barring having my camera stolen.

Finally, I want to say that I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to read these posts, however infrequent (or strange) they are. It’s always nice to know that my spewings are read. Thanks again!

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Music:
Must Be Dreaming – Frou Frou
Millionaire – Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack
The Youth – MGMT
Living in a Bubble – Eiffel 65
Guitar Hero – Amanda Palmer
Miss You – The Rolling Stones
Day One – Blackalicious
My Interpretation – Mika
Mayday – Jason Webley
Kissing the Lipless – The Shins

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~ by ravenfollower on March 14, 2010.