I'm back in Cuenca! After two weeks of backpacking through Colombia I almost forgot how pretty Cuenca is. Its cobblestone streets, the rivers, the markets, the colonial houses, the view on the new cathedral from my street, calle Benigno Malo and my dear friends and colleagues. It unites everything I've done and seen here so far. Me encanta Cuenca!

The city of Cuenca is formally known as Santa Ana de los Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca, referring to the four rivers running through the city. Each of them adds a unique, sparkling aspect to this mountainous city. They flow from west to east. The rivers are some of Cuenca's most distinctive beauty aspects. And as much as I love water, I love the rivers. I cross the Rio Tomebamba every day on my way to school and every time I imagine myself crossing the river. Not taking the bridge, but just like a like a little child, jumping the rocks, all the way through the wild water to the other side, cheerfully getting across, yelling at my mates on the other side. Proudly looking back on what I've accomplished. It's awesome just to imagine. But there's something that prevents me from doing it.

Today at school a new cycle started, which means I've got a new schedule, new students, new classrooms and some new colleagues. To me it means the restart of a new life. It brings me halfway my period here in Cuenca. It makes me feel excited thinking of all the things I've already done and seen here, friends I made, laughter we shared, the culture shocks we experienced and the stomach problems we suffered. But on the other hand it just saddens me that my life here will be over in couple of months and I'll return to Europe. Not just because I would mind going back (no offense made here), but because I feel like I'm about to lose everything here, all in favor of getting back all my friends and loved ones back home. It's like an inevitable swap of bests. A luxury problem. But it's evident and has struck me now for a while.

During my trip to Colombia I realized what I've done and achieved here. I've thought of what I'm going to bring home and what I'll leave here, whether I like it or not. In an ideal world, I'd pack Cuenca and bring it home, with all the joy and happiness I found here. Or I'd ship my life in the Netherlands to Ecuador. But I have to be realistic. Just like I'm tempted to cross the river jumping rocks, it frustrates me that I cannot live both lives at the same time and that I have to stay on either side. Sitting here I could imagine that I could just merge them. What would that be like? Wouldn't that be great? Just imagine.

But wait. Walking along the river, I find out something. The rivers of Cuenca meet each other near Parque de El Paraíso on the east side of town. They apparently aren't four seperate rivers, but they're one. Collectively they run all the way into the Amazonas ending up in the ocean. Even though they seem to be separate in Cuenca, in the end they're all united.

I just realize that I don't have multiple lives. I only have one life. It consists of multiple branches, but they all flow into the same direction. At one point, wherever that may be, they'll meet. I'm on that river, in the flow, steering through the rocks on my branch to my destination. Heading the meeting point. Me and my multiplelives united....just imagine. Wouldn't that be great?