I Made It

My first glimpse of Ecuador was from the plane.  Quito is 10,000 ft about sea level, so I knew that I would be in the mountains, but I was still shocked to see out the window of the plane.  We came out of the clouds approaching the airport in Quito and were surrounded by huge mountains on all sides-it was amazing.

After leaving the airport, I got to the hotel and met with the group and the tour Directors, Fabian and Leonore.  There are 14 of us in the group and everyone is from the west coast except for myself and one New Yorker.  We didn't really get a chance to settle into the hotel because we only stayed for a night.  Monday morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed to a smaller town about 45 minutes away, San Antonio, for our orientation. Some highlights from the trip:
I got to play futbol in Ecuador.
I can add Ecuador to my list of foreign countries I have run in.
I straddled the northern and southern hemisphere.
I learned (sort of) how to salsa dance.
I learned the history of Ecuador in 45 minutes in our first lecture from a lady who made Font's history class look like the most organized production ever.
I ate 5 meals a day and fell in love with the food here.
I sang karoake and drank pilsener.
I learned just about everything is very cheap- ice cream for 30 cents, 25 cents for a bus, beer for $1.
I learned that for the most part Ecuadorians are very laid back, nice, patient people.  

The last day of orientation was yesterday and it culminated in us being split into groups of 3 and navigating around.  We were each given a city that we had to get to and get back from.  My group was sent to Nanegalito- it was a 2 hour bus ride away through the mountains and cloud forest.  It was one winding road surrounded by enormous mountains covered in forests.  I remember loving the bus rides through Europe and not wanting to fall asleep because I would miss the landscape and that was how it was again.  It was so beautiful and completely untouched.  When we got to the city, we realized it wasn't really a tourist town.  It was tiny, and we were the only gringos there.  We walked around, and found a lunch place where I kid you not, I had the worst meal of my entire life.  We struggled to eat a little of it because we didn't want to be rude and we were already causing enough of a scene in that little town.  The soup had some questionable looking meat in it and there was stuff floating in there that I never want to see in my food.  It was so bad it was almost funny. almost.  We left soon after and it took us almost 3 hours to find our way on the Ecuadorian public transportation system to get back to our original hotel in Quito. 

Last night, to celebrate our adventures and our last night together before going our separate ways with our host families, the group went out on the town.  We pre-gamed with a knock off of rubenoff (it was as bad as it sounds) and then went to downtown Quito to a club and had a great time.  We had to watch out for the corner with the transvestite prostitutes and beware of pick pockets and drug dealers, but we made it there and back alive. 

Today I meet my host family- there are 2 parents and 3 brothers and they live to the South in Los Chillos.  I'm excited but wicked nervous.  My spanish is the part I'm worried about most.  I feel like it has gotten so much better even after only a few days, but I don't know how well I'll be able to communicate my ideas and opinions and everything to them. 

That's about all for now.  I love it here- it's so different from home in so many ways, and no two places or cities seem to be alike. I have some great pictures and video that I'll try to post asap.