I'm Here!!!!

After all the planning and anticipation, I'm finally in my new home in Quito! My flight was delayed by about an hour due to rain in Atlanta. There was a bit of turbulence off and on, but a pleasant flight none the less. The best thing about it was that landing in Quito with its high altitude meant no ear pain whatsoever!

We were picked up by a service for our apartment complex. I finally got to meet Christina, who I had been exchanging e-mails with about housing for months. We also picked up a girl who had studied abroad in Quito 5 years ago, and loved it here so much that she had been working to come back ever since. She will be a teacher's assistant at the same school I will be student teaching at. It was great to hear such glowing reviews of this city from another American. The ride had a half hour delay because a bridge was out. We were able to step out of the bus, stretch our legs and get our first look at Ecuador. We spoke briefly with the locals. I fumbled a lot with my Spanish, and continue to, but I'm determined to get better during my time here. Two of my fellow KSU students that are here with me -both named Jessica- are fluent in Spanish. One has parents from Venezuela and the other from Mexico. As a lucky bonus, each apartment has a Jessica. They have been so helpful, letting my practice with them, and bailing me out when I get into a conversation beyond my abilities.

Finally, we reached our apartment. It is incredible! See for yourself:


Dining room and sitting room

Living room

 My awesome bedroom

This view is from one of the spare rooms, it is shared with the living room. How beautiful is this city?











There are more photos, but they are taking forever to upload. I think this gives you an idea of how great the accommodations are. We even have a maid! There is a water cooler with potable water in the kitchen that gets changed when it's low. Even a dishwasher and a washer/dryer. There are also courtyards for each building in the complex. They are phenomenal. Pics to come.

When I woke up the first day, I felt a little drunk. After moving around and drinking water, I began to feel better, but my body is taking some time adjusting to the altitude. After the delays and the late flight, we didn't finish unpacking and settling in until about 4 am. We all still woke up around 9, too excited to sleep in. We found a great local bakery for breakfast (empanadas, yum!)

We then set out to get phones, and to load mine. We found a supermarket and started to stock up for our apartments. It's amazing how much food you can buy when you have nothing at all at home. We all tried to conserve, since we were walking back, uphill, about 3/4 or a mile. We still bought too much. It was an adventure. A few bags broke and we had to rearrange, but we made it. By 4 o'clock, we were exhausted. Altitude, lack of sleep and walking really took it out of us. Plus, the sun only being up for 12 hours can really mess with you concept of time. This photo was taken at 6:30 pm:

We decided to go to dinner. The 7 of us had to split into 2 taxis, but one of twice as much as the other. Magic? Nope, taxi ripoffs for tourists are common here. We are learning. We are also learning that redlights mean nothing here. A drive may slow down slightly and possibly honk through the intersection, that's the most response a red light will get. Everyone drives aggressively and it can be a little heartstopping at times. The place we chose for dinner was a square filled with clubs and restaurants. Unfortunately, no local cuisine last night, I will have some tonight though. Handsome men walked up to us in the square to promote their eateries and clubs. Very handsome men. It was a really cool place:

That's about it. We went to bed after dinner.

Oh, Rob, if you're reading this: I made eggs for breakfast. With milk! I even drank some. Milk from a box is a little different, but if it weren't for you, I wouldn't write home about it. I have no expectation of imminent death or anything! :)

Today we are either going to a soccer game or the historic district. I'll post about it soon. Tomorrow orientation begins!!!! Were will even have an overnight trip on Saturday to a market? I'm not sure exactly what it is we are doing, other than team building. I'm excited to get to know people from the school. How cool is it that they treat student teachers like new hires? Hopefully, this will give me another glimpse into expat life, and help me decide if I can handle the next few years on my own abroad.

Talk to you all soon