Second Impressions

Yay for Wifi! Now yall can stay updated with me as long as I have the time and willpower to update everyone. But that’s my goal anyways. The flight was long and very bumpy but I occupied myself with some good chick flicks and arrived in Quito last night. I thought back to last time I arrived in Quito and how nervous I was and how alone I felt. It felt so weird to be alone in another country. This time however, I couldn’t stop smiling. At this point it feels normal to me to be somewhere I’m not completely familiar with and here now there’s at least some familiarity and all I could think was, I can’t believe I’m back! I had a warm feeling walking by the window where families wait for their loved ones and I was excited to meet whoever was waiting for me. And I was even more excited when I met them. Monica and Edwin were waiting for me and they are wonderful. They were so welcoming and friendly and cheery. We waited a couple of hours for another guy to arrive on a flight that ended up being having to land in Guayaquil, but in the meantime Monica and I chatted about lots of stuff. We talked about important social issues going on in Ecuador now having to do with the immigration of Cubans, Colombians, and Peruvians to the country and the impact that is having as well as internal social inequalities and other issues. I can’t wait to learn more about all of it. She also mentioned that we could talk about possibly doing a mini project that would have to do with anthropology which would be awesome.
Driving to the place I will be living, I felt like no time had passed since my last visit. In the dark, everything looked the same. I am staying in a different area of Quito, a part I had never visited before. Apparently where I stayed last time was the “preppy” area. The house is mismatched and cozy, I have my own room and neighboring bathroom that I share. There is another floor and a roof deck upstairs and the program coordinators live in the apartment next door. Right now there are four other girls here but they leave next week and more will be coming on and off throughout my time here. It will be fun to meet the people who come and go and I am looking forward to getting to know Byron and Monica and everyone while I’m here. All in all, a successful first night and hopefully many more to come!