Getting started

On Saturday 24th October 2009 I will board a plane at Madrid Barajas airport and, if all goes according to plan, at 16:20 of the same day (but 11 hours after) I will be landing in Quito, Ecuador. I will hopefully be met by someone from the foundation which is co-ordinating my volunteer project, and they will take me to the family that will give me a home for the first 4 weeks.
And after a couple of days acclimatizing to the 2850m altitude and the 6 hours difference, I will finally meet those that I already call "my children", the kids of the nursery where I will be volunteering.
This is not just a travel journal. This is the live story of my lifetime dream. One of many. One of the biggest. One that puts together 3 of the 4 pillars that support my whole existence: travelling, nature (mountains!!) and people. The 4th one will be there in my heart during the whole time: and it's my amazing family and friends.
All this would have never happened...I would have never happened - not like this - if I hadn't had you in my life!

Anyway, there are less than two months to go and there is still so much to do!
Contracts, standing orders, packing…5 years of London life in a few boxes. Five years is a long time in Lorena’s world. Between the age of 19 and 24 I didn’t even spend more than 9 months in the same place! But in every location I have lived, I have made my nest and leaving has always been a struggle.
So I am a little surprised now to see that I do not feel even a little worried about leaving the place I have been calling Home for the past 5 years. I am not even a little scared, and it almost scares me that I am not scared!
The thing is…I am already there. In Ecuador I mean. I can see myself getting down the stairs of that plane, feeling the lack of oxygen and my head spinning. I can see myself eating local food, drinking Pilsener, learning slang words, hugging new friends.
There is one thing that scares me, though: and it’s thinking of the day I will have to leave to come back!