New Year, New Country

Well, I'm finally here. After months of planning and worrying there's a part of me that doesn't know what to do now that I'm actually in Quito.

So, the trip. I left at 2 am on December 31st. Most people wouldn't choose to travel on New Year's Eve, but I personally don't have much use for New Year's, so I was fine with it. I spent the hours before my departure watching various terrible New Year's Eve specials and laying around. Maybe I'm just getting older, but it seems like music is getting worse and worse. Although I have to admit, I'm probably just bitter because the Jonas Brothers serve as a constant reminder that I used to have a shrine dedicated to Hanson.

Due to the time of my departure, I had basically no option but to take a Supershuttle to the airport. The Supershuttle inevitably adds one to two hours to your trip. If you're not familiar, the Supershuttle provides door to airport service for a reasonable cost, the catch being that you have to ride with several other people and therefore drive all over the city picking them up before you can actually go to the airport.

When I finally did get to the airport, there wasn't a line for any airline. Except for mine. I waited in line for what seemed like forever. I had some fears about my baggage being overweight, but I put it up on the scale and it read 30.00, and since the limit was 50 pounds I was ready to declare a New Year's Day miracle. That was before the woman at the ticket counter informed me that was kilograms, and my bag was actually 68 pounds. So I spent at least 15 minutes at the ticket counter rearranging all of my luggage. Beautiful.

I got my first experience with Ecuadoran culture at the gate where I spent at least and hour and a half talking with an Ecuadoran man who struck up a conversation with me on the escalator as we were walking toward the gate. He was 41 and had two kids, so I guess he was just friendly. Who knows.

All I can really say about Copa Airlines is that I think the seats must be smaller than US airlines because I was dying. Maybe it was just because I was sitting there for 5 hours. Can't be sure. However, they served meals on both of my flights! That really was a New Year's miracle. Especially since the airport in Panama is full of duty-free stores but I couldn't find any restaurants to save my life.

After struggling my way through customs and immigration I finally met Trish, the Episcopal volunteer in Quito who was picking me up. It was such a relief to see my name on that little sign. I'm staying at Cesar and Patricia's house for right now. They are the MMN volunteers that work in Quito. They're on vacation right now and will be back on Sunday, so I'm on my own for the time being.

I've been a little bit scared to leave the house so I've been mostly watching tv. I have convinced myself that it's practicing my Spanish (I know, I know... pathetic). Tomorrow I'm going to the orientation with the study abroad program here. I'm not technically studying abroad, but they've arranged my housing and thought some of the orientation would be useful. At least it will get me out of the house!

I'm thinking of it this way right now, I just need to get my sea legs. But in this case, it's Ecuador legs. Once I get out there I know that I'll be fine, it's just making myself get out and make a fool of myself for a while with my terrible Spanish.