I Have Arrived!

That´s right, I´m in Ecuador! We got in late yesterday after a day full of flights, a bit boring at times, but not bad. The flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta was about 2 hours long, the one from Atlanta to Quito was 5. It was amazing to fly into Quito, we saw the dark outlines of the Andes Mountains as we descended steeply into the inter Andean valley where the city is located. Just seeing the lights in the valley and stretching up the hillside was beautiful. We got to see some of the city on our way to our host family´s home, who we met at the airport. I´m with two seniors, Jamie and Sarah, who are both friendly and cool. Our family consists of a mother and her 28 year old son, who lived in the US from age 5 to 18. He has perfect English, which is nice since my Spanish is a bit rusty. After settling in, it was nice to sleep. Strangely, most things are the same. Of course it will take a little remembering that "C" on the water handles means caliente, or hot, not cold! This morning, we went to the Andean Study Center for orientation and class, now that I have a bit of break, I get to fill you in! There are many internet cafeterias in this part of town, which is commonly referred to as "gringoland" due to the high number of tourists and touristy shops. It is fun to just people watch here. There is a great mix of people, in the span of less than a minute, I passed by a man in a business suit and a woman in traditional native dress. One thing to be careful about is the cars, on our way to the center, we witnessed a near accident between a car and a bus. Our host mother told us that very few people obey the traffic laws here, the only fine is 4 dollars! Yes, things are different, but good. Very good. Or should I say muy bien? I´m having a great time thus far and I look forward to many more adventures. Tomorrow we have orientation for the rainforest. The day after that, we GO to the rainforest. I´m pumped. It´s warm here. The weather is great. I may actually wear shorts! And the rainforest is supposed to even warmer, and humid too. I´m excited. I hope everyone back home is doing well, that interims at Olaf are fun, and that everyone is having a good time. I miss you all.