For the last full day of our trip, we woke up bright and early and hopped on the bus to Baños, Ecuador to see the waterfall, Pailón del Diablo. We had a lot of fun; everyone took a step under the waterfall and got a fresh kick of water. After that, we headed to the city center of Baños where we had lunch at a local restaurant called Leprechaun and then had a little free time to shop at the local shops.
We headed back to the hotel, where we arrived at 5:30 pm and had a moment to get ready for dinner, a delicious, beautiful, and private affair at Nativa in Riobamba. The chef and owner, Cesar, treated us to an elevated and deconstructed meal inspired by Ecuadorean street food and native fruits and ingredients.
We ended our final nightly meeting high on emotions. We (Sofia and Kayla) realized that we were both natural leaders but needed to learn to differentiate between when it is time to have fun and when it is time to be serious.
As leaders, we struggled to maintain authority and be taken seriously by our friends. Because of this struggle, when we returned to the hotel, we reset and came back stronger and more assertive; we were able to take charge once again. One thing that we were very proud of is that we were able to gather the group 10 minutes early to every event, something that our delegation has had trouble doing since the start of the trip.
A common theme across our whole trip is the appreciation of nature, and it was nice to see everyone appreciate and enjoy the waterfall without the need to search for something more than just nature and the company of each other (Glimpsers, PCs, GGLs, and our bus drivers Fernando and Sergio).
Throughout this whole experience, we have also appreciated the amount of love and attention that was put into everything, especially the meals. From our experience with the indigenous Pachamanca lunch to the elevated dinner at Nativa, we felt the difference in the taste of the food because of the close connection the community has with their land and ingredients. After the meal, Cesar gifted us one of his menus; we were surprised at the prices of his restaurant because, for such elevated cuisine, the prices were very low. It often feels that chefs in the US care more about money than the intention of connecting with the food that is used to nourish our bodies. Collectively, we agreed that a goal for us is to return home and to ensure we put more intention into the things that we do; not only for ourselves, but for the actions we do for others.
“You were not born in center your entire existence on worked labor, you were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and your community, to practice, to experiment, to have space, to dream, and connect .” – Tricia Hersey
See you soon,
Big love!
Sofia and Kayla
