Friday, August 04, 2006 11:25 PM, Quito, Ecuador
I’m here! I made it to Quito with relative ease, thank goodness. Leaving today was so difficult though. I guess because I couldn’t actually picture leaving beforehand, so when the time came to say goodbye to Jon it was much harder than I thought it would be. Yeah, I was that girl with the tear-stained face at the airport.
And of course, once I got on the plane all the doubt set in: “What the HELL am I doing going to Ecuador for 4 months?!” I sat there contemplating what would be a good excuse to get myself off that plane. But ever the self-conscious one, I didn’t want to draw that much attention to myself, so off I went to Atlanta and then Quito.
A slight aside for those curious about who is the typical passenger on a flight to Quito – in addition to the Ecuadorians, there are tons of do-gooders. I ran into a group from Habitat for Humanity and another on a church mission. And these were large groups too. So I guess I fit right in, although I had them all trumped with my length of stay.
I made it without any trouble through immigration – and even used some Spanish. The only scary moment was when I emerged with my bags (100 lbs all together) I anxiously scanned the very large crowd for someone with a sign with my name on it. No dice at first, so I made my way out the door. Thankfully, there I found my name and ended up in a taxi to Villa Nancy, my home for the next two days. Unfortunately, my taxi driver didn’t exactly know where he was going, and like most men, didn’t ask for directions. Finally, after circling the same few blocks for 15 minutes we came upon the hostel.
So now I’m sitting on one of the two beds in the sparse, but cute room. I should be joined any minute by another volunteer from GVI, so that should be cool. And now that I made it, I’m glad I didn’t go running back to Jon. Although I’ll miss him terribly, I feel really good about what I’m doing here.
Will I still feel the same way when the first signs of “intestinal problems” set in? We’ll see…
And of course, once I got on the plane all the doubt set in: “What the HELL am I doing going to Ecuador for 4 months?!” I sat there contemplating what would be a good excuse to get myself off that plane. But ever the self-conscious one, I didn’t want to draw that much attention to myself, so off I went to Atlanta and then Quito.
A slight aside for those curious about who is the typical passenger on a flight to Quito – in addition to the Ecuadorians, there are tons of do-gooders. I ran into a group from Habitat for Humanity and another on a church mission. And these were large groups too. So I guess I fit right in, although I had them all trumped with my length of stay.
I made it without any trouble through immigration – and even used some Spanish. The only scary moment was when I emerged with my bags (100 lbs all together) I anxiously scanned the very large crowd for someone with a sign with my name on it. No dice at first, so I made my way out the door. Thankfully, there I found my name and ended up in a taxi to Villa Nancy, my home for the next two days. Unfortunately, my taxi driver didn’t exactly know where he was going, and like most men, didn’t ask for directions. Finally, after circling the same few blocks for 15 minutes we came upon the hostel.
So now I’m sitting on one of the two beds in the sparse, but cute room. I should be joined any minute by another volunteer from GVI, so that should be cool. And now that I made it, I’m glad I didn’t go running back to Jon. Although I’ll miss him terribly, I feel really good about what I’m doing here.
Will I still feel the same way when the first signs of “intestinal problems” set in? We’ll see…
posted by Melissa In Ecuador at 5:28 PM
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