The (long) Journey there

April 1st... Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit - except you cannot ¨do¨ rabbit, rabbit, rabbit unless you actually wake-up, and you cannot wake-up, unless you actually sleep. So, I never slept, therefore I did not wake up, therefore, not sure what I was to do about rabbit, rabiit, rabbit... I ended up just saying it around 430am when I was hugging my boys and kissing my girl goodbye.

So, my journey back to Quito actually begun March 3rd in the evening... Christina asked me repeatedly if I was going to be home because my friend, Linda Boveda, wanted to stop by to see us... I actually needed to make a yoghurt run to Safeway, but of course, not much would keep me away from a visit and hug from Linda...

She came in her usually manner... breezy, fun, breathless and beaming with excitement and kindness... handed me a card, a gift bag and held some papers... The gift bag contained a gorgeous silk scarf in all of ¨my¨colors, the card was loving and kind and filled me with warmies. Then, the paper... Her husband, Benny, had brought up the idea first.... a special gift, a generous present - a chance for me to book a trip to Quito to be with my Vati in what looked liked his last days... during our spring break, so I would not miss work. Christina and I were totally overwhelmed and stunned at such a gracious and generous offer... tears flowed, hugs ensued, and, after Linda left, I begun to settle down with this unexpected opportunity, begun to seriously consider Linda and Benny´s offer... a chance to help my parents, to be of use, to shoulder a little of what my brother Klaus had been shouldering... After some discussion with Rick, it was settled and shortly thereafter, the flight was booked.

Just two weeks later, my beloved Vati passed away... my brother Hans, called the Tio Piloto by my nephews in Quito, arranged for his family and me to fly to Quito. Through his American Airlines benefits, we were able to get down to Quito in time for Vati´s funeral and a few more days to help each other through this painful time... I actually stayed a whole week, returning the night before my birthday. Once we booked the trip for the funeral, I once again marveled at how perfectly timed the Bovedas´ gift was... I now had the opportunity to return within two weeks of Vati´s funeral to help my Mamita in whatever way I could. Perfect!

So, back to Thursday, April 1st. Two checked bags and a carry-on stowed in Grandpa´s car and Rick and I set off for SFO. My flights were simple... 630 to LAX, 820 to MIA, 5 something to UIO. SFO to LAX no problem... window seat, short nap, quick walk to connecting flight´s gate, swift and easy boarding and on-time departure to MIA. I even got a chance to talk to Tio Piloto.
Nap on flight... boring movie (Sly Mr. Fox), so more napping, then soothing listening to AAs classical music channel... until all on board entertainment shut down. Flight attendand´s anouncement they were aware of the problem and working on it. Just as fast another announcement letting us know we would be landing in New Orleans and our captain would brief us soon as to why. Flight attendants quickly prepared us for landing, captain came on and let us know our aircraft was down to one generator, so we would land in New Orleans and assess our situation then. LOUD groaning of engines as we prepared our descend into NO, nervous looks among passengers, guy next to me really having a time with the news, the turbulence and the noices... still, easy landing, obligatory passenger clapping and taxing to the gate.

Please remain in your seats... assessing situation, if warranted, we would deplane and hang in the terminal... stay tuned. Working on getting air on board, meanwhile, please lower the window shades to keep sun and heat out of aircraft. Fortunately I travel in layers, so I quickly got down to tank top and ditched my socks... Before air could really get worked out, new anouncement - please deplane and take all of your belonging with you. Update in an hour.

Well, long story and wait made short, we were eventually able to continue our trip to MIA in a different aircraft, landing at the Miami airport just shy of 1am. An hour later we were close to getting our luggage. American Airlines reps were able to rebook me to a 3pm flight on Friday and gave me a voucher for a hotel room and breakfast at the DoubleTree Hotel. I got into my room a little after 3am, and was probably asleep by 315.

I requested an 830 wake up call, showered and got myself ready, enjoyed a delicious breakfast buffet, nice gentleman did not charge me full price, so all it cost was a (generous) tip. Went in search of a few toiletries and ended up browsing through some very fun accessory boutiques. Caught a shuttle back to MIA about 30 minutes later than I wanted to. Had great luck - sky cabbie took my luggage, old ticket, passport and green card and after a few minutes came back with my boarding pass and luggage tags. Another generous tip was happily and gratefully doled out. Tumbleweeds through the security checkpoint, so in no time at all I was at my departure gate, about 2 hours prior to boarding.

On board, I lucked out again and had an entire row of seats all to myself. Needless to say, I zonked out almost immediatelly, nice stretched out across the bumpy seats.

Landing, immigration and customs all uneventful... and as soon as I came out the passenger zone I spotted my brother Klaus. Paid for parking, heading to his car... and there, a surprise - ¨Gustavo¨ the Ecuadorian Milk Snake or Serpiente Falsa Coral. Klaus had spotted it that morning as he was getting some supplies out of his garage and, rightfully, thought it to be the poisonous Coral Snake. He caught it and placed in a shoe box. Later on he found out it was a False Coral and, therefore, harmless, so he kept it in the car until he could decide what to do with it. His sons were both highly enthusiastic about it, and Sebastian kept calling it ¨gusanito¨ (little worm), so it was named ¨Gustavo¨ as a derivative of ¨gusanito¨. I opened the box and peaked. What a gorgrous snake - shiny, freshly shedded skin, beautiful markings... very, very pretty snake.

Klaus and I brought my luggage into my parent´s home... hugs and kisses and wonderful moments all around... we had an easy, breezy evening, Mutti made us some very yummy sandwiches, we discovered the herring for Tio Rodrigo made it in one piece, I discovered I left the nice Brie I bought Mutti, but I did remember the Tee Wurst for her and Klaus. Sometime later on Klaus left and Mutti and I headed to bed.

I must say I felt sad and forelorn being in my parent´s home knowing there was no Vati to hug, talk to and be with... I do miss his physical presence so very much! Miss his voice, his laughter, his amazing sense of humor, his kind and loving ways, his touching sweetnes... and while I constantly feel close to his spirit and loving energy, my more human and selfish self wants to be with him as he was, healthy and strong and whole again... so, on this trip, I have found myself leaking tears quite often as I go through the house and get on with our visit. I guess it´s good to know I´m normal...