Arrival in Quito!

Well, I am finally in Ecuador! And how glorious it is! I flew to Miami last night, which was an experience. The Miami International Airport is huge and insanely busy, with people from all different countries and speaking all different languages all around. I managed to get my bags from baggage claim and haul them to the Airport Hotel (though I must admit, I was cursing myself the entire time for packing so much). At the hotel check-in, I happened to meet two girls that were also on my program--Sarah from New York and Jessica from Oregon. We all agreed to meet back in the lobby after dropping our bags in our rooms and go off in search of some dinner. A really nice bell hop (who, as I discovered, was from Costa Rica) helped me with my stuff and I got at least a little practice speaking Spanish to him on my way up to my room. Now, I must point out here that, contrary to what a certain former-boss of mine told me, my hotel room was in fact normal size and had a bed (and was not a Japanese-style pod hotel as was suggested!).

Unfortunately, by the time Jessica, Sarah, and I went back downstairs, most restaurants in the airport were closed so we were forced to go up to the hotel restaurant which, while nice, was way more expensive than what we had been looking for. But beggars can´t be choosers, so no worries.

We all woke up painfully early this morning (at 3:30AM!!!) and went down to check in to our flight to Quito, which is where we all finally got to meet and get a good look at the people we would be spending the next few months with. I had not know what to expect when we got on the flight to Ecuador, but it turned out to be the nicest airplane I have ever been on (though my experience is limited, admittedly). We were in economy class, but the seats were fairly big and we each had our own little TV and remote to pick whatever we wanted to watch, which was very cool. Though, to be honest, I fell asleep about fifteen minutes into whatever movie it was I had selected.

After arriving in Quito, we all gathered our bags and met Fabian, one of our program directors, at the entrance to the airport. Once assembled, he led us outside and into the amazing city of Quito. Quito is truly a breathtaking city (actually, it is quite literally breathtaking, considering that at 9000 feet it can be quite hard to catch your breath!). The city is in the mountains and narrow, but long and spread out, as it is nestled between the mountain peaks with a huge, impressive-looking range of volcanoes on one side. And we were fortunate enough to walk out to a bright, sunny sky, which is rare this time of year, being rainy season. I am not at all embarrassed to say that I was not at all shy about looking like a tourist--while our bags were being loaded into the bus that would take us to our hotel, I broke out my camera and started taking pictures of everything!

After a winding bus ride through the city, our faces glued to the windows of the bus, we arrived on a narrow street where our hotel, the Alston Inn, is located. Lenore, our other program director, greeted us there. We all hauled our bags into the hotel and were assigned rooms. Once our bags were dumped in our rooms, we met Lenore and Fabian upstairs in a little meeting room where they introduced themselves and told us about what to expect for the coming weeks.

We are spending the night at the Alston Inn tonight and tomorrow, bright and early, we will be leaving to go to see the actual Ecuator and see some other tourist-y sites. We return to our hotel in Quito on Thursday and Friday, we go to the Los Chillos valley, which is about 40 minutes from Quito, to meet and go home with our homestay families. Then, for the next four weeks, we will live with them in the Los Chillos valley while we attend our Intensive Language Class from 8:00 Am to 1:00PM every day (!). With five hours of Spanish every day, I have no doubt my Spanish will improve pretty quickly! Once that session is up, we move in with our homestay families in Quito for the next four weeks, where we will begin to Culture and Development Seminar portion and also where, since our Spanish will hopefully be better by then, we will have a bit more freedom to explore.

After we had introductions and a bit of orientation, we had lunch delivered--fresh-made, absolutely delicious tamales! And we were STARVING, which made them even better.

I will try to update this blog at least once a week (and, as is evidenced by how surprisingly easy it was for me to find an Internet cafe my first day here, I should hopefully be able to do so). Take care and I love and miss you all!

-Alex