Today I visited Mindo, a town about 2 hours outside of Quito that is known for its cloud forest, orchids, butterflies, and adventure activities like zip lining and tubing.
I went with a woman I met in my hostel. She is from Russia and doesn’t speak English, plus her Spanish isn’t great yet so it was a bit frustrating. But during a particularly frustrating moment (she had lost some tickets that we bought earlier in the day for an activity I wanted to do), a butterfly landed on my bag and I had to smile.
After that, the day improved greatly with some spontaneous zip lining high above a lush forest and rushing river. I was scared but I sucked it up, reminding myself that I lived through cancer so what’s a dangerous activity in a third world country going to do, really?
OMG
That is awesome! Nothing like a butterfly to put things in perspective. You seem to be winning at life down there! Also, more power to you for going with the flow. And if you hang out with the Russian woman again, you can impress her by saying spaceeba instead of thank you