The girl in the striped skirt

It's funny that Adriana was the girl who stood out to me our first weekend in the small indigenous community of Los Naranjos. We had just arrived from Quito to begin our month-long homestay and reforestation project with the people here, and that Sunday morning we all made the trek to the community school for a special ceremony honoring the national flag. All the girls arrived in their tuná, the traditional woven brightly colored skirts of the Tsa'chila tribe, and there in my line of sight was Adriana, looking pensive.

Fast forward a month, and the community came together once again, this time for our going-away party (despedida). Here was Adriana again, and inexplicably - her family didn't host anyone in our group so she had very little direct contact with us while we stayed in the community - she was quite attached to us. It was hard not to fall in love with her again as she wrapped her arms around my waist and informed me that she was really going to miss me when I was gone.

I suppose that might seem a bit strange, since this was the first time I had ever talked to her, but it was an enlightening moment to see that our presence in this community, though only lasting a month, and perhaps really only comprising a few moments, left many deep impressions.