IM HERE!!!

I am writing this as I am on the bus taking us to our hotel in Quito. The flight wasn't bad at all, but four hours was tough for me by the end because I was getting so antsy! It was actually really funny, because on both my flights today, when I got up the nerve to use the airplane potties, I would go in and immediately it would be time to prepare for landing. So when I was getting completely over the flight to Quito, I went to the bathroom knowing that as soon as I went in there, we would be done soon! It worked! 

Thankfully there were 12 other classmates on the flight with me and I actually got to sit next to Tara, one of the girls in my teaching group. We had a lot of fun goofing off and stuff during the plane ride. When we started to fly into Ecuador, the views were amazing. It was absolutely gorgeous to see all the mountains and volcanoes. I actually was able to use my Spanish a little bit! There was a man on the other side of me who spoke no English, and Tara and I were trying to remember the names of the volcanoes. He was obviously Ecuadorian, so I asked  him the names of the mountains! He started to ask me other questions too - about where we were going and how long we would be there. He said my Spanish was "perfecto" hahahaha, I'm sure he was just being nice. It was fun trying to communicate with him! When we landed, before he left, he said "Bienvenidos a Ecuador" (Welcome to Ecuador). It was really sweet and got me so excited that my Spanish is somewhat comprehensible! 

Getting off the plane was a process - all of us were absolutely sweating. The workers at immigration were so nice - much nicer than the US workers hahahaha. I was very excited to get another stamp in my passport! It took a while for all of us to get our bags, and then some of us had to have our bags scanned. It was random who was picked and who wasn't. Of course I was picked, and since I have the heaviest bags ever, it was a struggle. Once we went through that, we were able to leave and we had our coordinators waiting for us! I completely forgot about the whole "kissing on the cheek" as a greeting, but I got used to it!!!

Now we are on a 90 minute bus ride to get to the city of Quito. We are driving through two suburbs that are polar opposites. Tumbaca was the first, and it was very rough. Kumvaya has a lot of rich people that have moved there and it is much more developed. I definitely saw McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and Baskin Robbins. They had a huge shopping mall as well. It is so interesting how quickly the we go from a nice area to a dilapidated building.

We will be at the hotel soon where it is all set up for us. I will definitely sleep like a rock tonight. We start orientation tomorrow morning at 9am. The fun begins!!!

The view as we arrive in Quito

Our first hotel - SO cute!

My room!

My bed with Pooh Bear