As I've been living on my own on the upper side of the Americas for a couple of months, one of the things I miss the most is a good weekend with my people. They're the kind of people that, after high school ended and as each semester passed by, we chose to stick together.

During the first two or three weeks what I missed from them was, oddly enough, partying. Honestly, the upstate New York party scene is weird and seriously lacks the wonderful level of energy we have back home. We didn't need much to set up, for example, a good caída (noun. small gathering with friends and anyone who drops by). All it took was 30 minutes of loud arguing, a living room and, hopefully, $20 obtained through checking each of our wallets for loose change. Pretty simple, right?

During the next two weeks, I missed loud lunchtime conversations. It's not a secret that Latin Americans can be very loud when speaking within a group. So, walking into the food court at our mall-campus or into the cafeteria is an interesting experience. It's almost a battle over which table manages to speak or laugh the loudest. Currently, my lunchtime conversations are still noisy, as I discovered my international group can be just as loud as my fellow Ecuadorians, but there is no noise competition in the cafeteria.

Now, as I "dramatically" stare at the woods with my assigned novel for the week and Joaquín Sabina's 500 Noches para una Crisis album, I wonder what I could be doing with all of them if I hadn't left. So far, as I've been kindly informed by both Facebook and one of the group chats I still participate in, I would go to the Game of Thrones campus event and a couple of smaller parties at either the valley or up north. Taking into consideration I am much more of a caída's person, I might have joined one or two of them during the weekend.

So, this one is for all of you, my dearest friends out there. This weekend, please enjoy a beer in my name and know that, if I could, I would most likely join you. If you wish to fulfill this simple task with a stronger kind of drink, I would be absolutely pleased. Considering I am stuck with apple juice for some time, I will honour all of you with it.

PS: Dome and Tefy, here's a song for you to sing for me this weekend.

PS2: Don't think I forgot about you, my dear bestie, here's a video for you.