En Route--Quito

Hi Everyone!

I'm writing to you from the other half of the world!  (Maybe.  The equator runs through the city I'm in, but I'm not quite sure if it's north or south of the airport.)  I'm officially in Ecuador now, in the airport in Quito, the capital.  My flight to Cuenca, where the orphanage is, leaves soon.

My passport stamp!

The ride was nice--I got a window seat, so I was able to cocoon against the window and sleep for a bit. Plus, they gave me my first taste of what I think is Ecuadorean food onboard--spicy chicken with sautéed bell peppers and this excellent rice-beans-corn combination.  (I'm sorry.  My culinary writing leaves much to be desired.)

All I've seen so far of Ecuador is the airport, but it's quite nice.  It was actually chilly getting off the plane, which was very exciting, coming from a Southern California summer.  I made it through customs--I got this very cool stamp on my passport indicating that I am, in fact, in Ecuador and entered in Quito.

I'e met some more interesting people--one man in line in front of me at customs lives in the same town as the University of Oregon and hosts international students when they first arrive to teach them about American life.  He was here to attend the wedding of one of the students he formerly hosted, and told me that he had volunteered in orphanages in the past as well--he helped do the bookkeeping for one in Honduras, so he didn't work much with the kids.  And there were more French people (it's a little odd how many I've met so far.  But it's possible that my ears are just more attuned to hear a language that I can sort of understand amongst all the Spanish.)  They were a few years older than me, here to backpack.  I also saw a trio of Ecuadorean girls, probably around 13 or so, giggling and taking duck-face selfies.  I couldn't understand what they were talking about, but judging by the tone of their voices and volume of their laughter, I was like 90% certain that they were discussing guys.  Some things apparently don't change based on culture (I've had...more than a few conversations like that with my friends.)

My bed tonight.  It was roughly as comfortable
as it looks.  It's an adventure!

Sleeping tonight has been interesting.  I couldn't print my boarding pass at home, so I had to go to the ticket counter after customs, where they informed me that they wouldn't be able to print it there until 4 AM (it was around 12:30 AM at the time.)  So I had to find a place to sleep for a few hours.  However, in general, the safest places in airports are well-lit and have plenty of people milling around.  That doesn't always make it easy to sleep.  Nonetheless, I found a bench that I could curl up on, with my feet on my suitcase, my arm through my backpack strap, and my purse tucked under my sweatshirt.  Everything survived, and at 4 AM, I went to the ticket counter.  There was a line, but no attendant.  Fortunately, one showed up around 4:30, and I am officially ticketed and through security.  (Security took approximately 2 minutes.  It was awesome.)  I'll be in seat 13, which seems auspicious--it's the date of my birthday.

Thank you so much for reading all my ramblings about airports!  In my next post, you'll hopefully get to hear about my experience channeling my inner Eliza Hamilton (bonus points if you get the reference.  Double bonus points if you immediately know the song that I'm referring to.)  Love you all!