First Day

This morning, I had about ten minutes of free time and had a lovely post about my travel day and first night here, and then I did something wrong and it went away ): Anyway, hopefully I have enough time right now to re-do that! The past two days have been such a blur, and I don’t even know how to accurately explain all that’s going on. Yesterday morning, I rushed out of the house after repacking and reorganizing half of my things… and then there was a teary goodbye at the airport (of course). After leaving my parents and boyfriend, I went through security trying to compose myself, and numerous people kept asking where I was going and why I was crying… but my flights went well and I flew in to Quito with a fellow intern- such a blessing because I would have freaked out going through customs alone. By the time we had our bags and everything taken care of, it was about 2 here (3 at home). We were exhausted but wanted desperately to unpack. For those of you who know me well, imagine how I handled two PACKED suitcases and a giant backpack scattered on the floor and being too tired to do anything about it. It took a solid twenty minutes for us to find toothbrushes and pajamas in all the mess, and then we slept HARD. Four hours later, we were up for breakfast!

The house is super nice: several bedrooms and bathrooms, a lounge-ish room, a laundry room and a kitchen! So I am super comfy here and excited for the next few months. I didn’t know what to expect today, and I was honestly hoping for a little more sleep , but it’s been great! I’m staying with Jenna, the girl I flew in with, and Adelle, an intern who’s been here for two months already. This morning, we had a great breakfast and went over some basic stuff and then got a ride to Covi- a place where street kids can just be loved for a few hours before/after school. The kids don’t come until Monday, so we spent today painting and cleaning up the place a little. The drive was about thirty minutes, and I am absolutely intrigued by this city. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before and I love it! The PALM TREES are so awesome (: It was fun to talk all morning/afternoon with Jenna and Adelle and get to know them a little better; the english was appreciated! It’s definitely frustrating to not be able to speak all the spanish I want to, but I’m hoping it will come! I haven’t even been here 24 hours yet…

After we finished at Covi this afternoon, we walked to a little coffee shop nearby and then took a bus back to Casa Blanca (our house). The overall idea of driving here is ridiculous… everyone just honks all the time and they go wherever they want whenever they want… Needless to say, the bus ride home was intense. There were way too many people and way too many sudden stops and starts for probably more than thirty minutes. I think my hands are calloused from holding the bars, and I definitely gained some muscle trying to keep my balance. And of course everyone is so interested in the blue-eyed blonde white girls, so that was fun. Several people have asked if Jenna and I are sisters because we both have blonde hair.

Tonight, we grabbed a quick dinner and headed to La Luz, the church we’ll be going to. There was a “club” meeting tonight for people trying to learn english, so we were just helping out. It’s interesting to watch people be afraid and shy to speak my native language when I’m even more afraid to speak theirs. It was a fun evening, full of lots of laughter! (I pretended I got their jokes even if I didn’t understand all of them…) We’re about to go to bed now, after I finally got a shower and a chance to unpack! The shower alternated between scalding hot and freezing cold, so that was fun. I’m excited to be more settled in and figuring things out though!

It’s been a whirlwind of a day, and we’re starting off early tomorrow as well! The city is huge and beautiful and full of so many amazing people speaking the BEST language (that I wish I could speak too). Things are definitely different here, but it’s so similar in that people are just doing life together. It looks weird from an outsider’s perspective, but I’m excited to build relationships with the awesome people I’ve already met! I have no idea what the next 8 months looks like, but I can’t wait! God is at work!

• Posted in: Uncategorized