…since I wrote a post. In that year a lot has happened. I returned to the US. I went back to the same high school to teach Geometry and Algebra 2. It was both fun and weird to teach the same kids just a year later. I went back to the same apartment with the same gorgeous view and the same nice neighbors. I bought a new tiny car and named it Violet. This summer I traveled to Peru and visited the Amazon Basin and Machu Picchu. (BTW – Put Machu Picchu on your bucket list. I was completely blown away by the beauty and engineering! Take a look at the pictures.)

But something did not feel right. My heart was still in Ecuador. During the past year I would look at jobs in Quito that I would find on the internet. I convinced myself I was looking ‘just for fun’. I had taken my leave of absence from BPS. Leaving the system meant losing seniority, job security, great insurance, and a great salary. I couldn’t leave a job like that….could I? I told myself to get over it. I wasn’t going anywhere. I was just having a mid-life crisis.

I would read articles in O magazine about taking charge of your life and being open to change and new possibilities and my heart would beat a little faster. I was starting to wonder if I could change my job within the BPS. Maybe be a coach or a new teacher developer? And when I opened myself up to a little change, BIG change came barreling down the pike. My friend Kelly had left the district this year and she lived to tell the tale. She kept saying it was possible to leave and I might be a lot happier. Before I knew it, I was open to the possibility of leaving Boston. Soon it was the end of the school year and I was surfing the internet. I found an ad on Craigslist in Ecuador (who looks there for a job in another country?) for a high school mathematics teacher who could teach in English. I applied, was asked to write lesson plans and a unit guide, had an awkward Skype interview, and was offered the job while traveling in Peru.

While my friend Kelly and I were climbing up little Wayna Picchu and were perched on rocks overlooking Machu Picchu and the Andes mountains, we were quiet as we tried to process everything we were seeing. I voiced my concerns about leaving my job and moving to another country. And I feel like within Kelly’s response, I could hear my Dad’s, my Papa’s, God’s, and everyone else’s who is up there looking after me. She said, “Megan, if it doesn’t work out, you can get on a plane and go home.” So simple. So logical. If it doesn’t work out, I will get on plane and go home.

So here goes! I’ve given up my job and my apartment which was really hard to do.  I’m planning goodbye lunches and dinners with dear friends. I’m buying lots of things here that you can’t find in Ecuador. (Chocolate chips? Check. Tub of peanut butter? Check. Down comforter? Check.) And I’m praying that everything will happen the way it is supposed to happen.

OMG. I can’t believe I’m doing this! Ecuador! Here I come!

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