Super High!

Greetings from 10,000 feet above sea level. It´s been a hectic few days but I´ll try and recap the best that I can.

Monday was travel day. I woke up pretty early and didnt end up doing the time trial. I couldn´t sleep too well the night before, so I just did a nice easy two miler in my neighborhood. My parents took me to the airport where we sat around a bit (having gotten there super early) and then I went through security and I was on my own. I was pretty relaxed because I had taken two doses of Ativan by the time I got on the plane, so I actually was feeling pretty good. However, it turned out that we ended up sitting at the gate for an hour before actually taking off, so by the time the flight got underway, most of my relaxation had turned back into post-benzo-anxiety.

Nonetheless, the flight was fine and I landed in Miami with over two hours to make the connection. Also, it just so happened that on my flight to Miami, I sat next to a girl from Carleton who was also connecting through Miami to Quito. For some reason, it actually made me feel a lot better to know that there was someone else in my situation that would be there. We exchanged emails, so I at least felt like I had some sort of contact.

In Miami, I grabbed some shitty, overpriced food and sat around, waiting for my flight. This time, to avoid the situation from the first flight, I took my Ativan pretty close to the time of the flight. However, even with this, our flight managed to be delayed for some sort of ¨mechanical problem¨ and thus I was again pretty anxious on the flight.

Once we got up in the air though, it was one of the most beautiful experiences I´ve ever been a part of. We flew above one layer of thick clouds and below another hazy section. I was in the window on the right side of the plane and, since we were flying south, I was able to watch the sunset through these clouds. It literally looked like we were in some sort of acid-trip, space-time thing. It´s impossible to describe and unfortunately I wasn´t really able to capture it with my camera. Oh well.

It was also really beautiful to fly over Quito and see the whole city lit up. When the plane landed, we were ushered into passport control and customs, which was much less intimidating than I had imagined. Pretty simple actually.

One of the things I was most anxious about was meeting up with the i-to-i people at the airport. Luckily, it was pretty simple, as well. Gaby, my in country coordinator, was waiting with a big sign right outside of customs. She was there with a driver and another girl who was also staying in Ecuador. Also, Gaby spoke to me in English, which was yet another pleasant surprise.

We drove through the city to my homestay home where I was dropped off. I walked up the four flights of stairs (which took A LOT out of me seeing that I had been at altitude for all of an hour or so) and met my Mother, María. I basically just fell into bed and fell asleep.

Tuesday, Sept. 02.
I woke up around 7:30 and unpacked. My room is huge! It´s probably about the same size as my room at home. I also have my own bathroom with a shower, toilet, and hot water. The flat we are staying in is really nice on the whole. I´m actually not sure how many people live in it...

Anyways, I woke up and unpacked and then had breakfast at 8:00 with my host Mother. It was a little stressful, as she does not speak English and was interrogating me about everything from my parents, brother, life, girlfriend, etc. After breakfast, I finally met Benedicte, a Norwegian girl who is also staying in my house and is working at the same project as me. The two of us then headed to the i-to-i office to meet the rest of the Ecuador volunteers and go through orientation.

There were about 8 volunteers total, and I was the youngest. There was one other 18 year old girl from England and the others were all in their mid to late 20s. We talked with Gaby, the program head, for a bit, and then hopped in a van and headed to el Mitad del Mundo (the site of the equator). It was a little touristy, but ok. Some of the science was actually interesting (why the water spins one way when draining and the opposite only a few feet away.

After this we headed back to the office and had the real orientation, where Gaby went over a lot of the safety and other such things. It was pretty slow and boring, but it was ok. Around 4:00, those of us who had signed up for Spanish lessons split up and met with our teachers. This was actually incredibly helpful. It turns out I´m probably one of the more knowledgable speakers in the group (NOT what I expected). The lesson was one on one with a teacher and entirely in Spanish for about 3 hours. It was super intense, but really helpful. We not only went over some grammar but mostly just got experience talking and listening. Also, she was helpful in telling me some important things to know about Ecuador y Quito (do NOT climb the mountains without a guide, no matter how experienced you are).

Finally, Benedicte and I were picked up and taken back to our homestay. We had a delicious dinner and then went for a walk to try and find a cellphone store. The city does seem pretty dangerous after dark. Even I would not want to go out alone, and I certainly would not as a woman.

One thing that is really nice, though, is how cheap everything here is. For example, in this internet cafe, it costs $0.70 per HOUR. A bottle of spring water costs $0.10, the most expensive cab ride would be $1.50.

Anyways, we found a cell phone store but didn´t buy any since we didn´t bring any money (one should not walk around with more than a few dollars and a phone is 45). Benedicte and I seem to be getting along quite well. She speaks very good English, which is a nice break from the intensity of constant spanish. We are thinking of doing some traveling around the country, since we have the weekends free. Traveling is also very cheap here. The longest bus ride (500km) costs about $15 and the most expensive hotel is about $10 per night. It seems silly NOT to take advantage of this!

That´s about all for now. I might try and go for a run at some point today, but we´ll see. The stairs still give me some trouble!