First Night

Earlier today, Meghan and I arrived in Quito. It took us 12 hours because we flew through San Salvador and San Jose. I had some seperation anxiety when we had to leave Costa Rica. Just from the airplaine window view, I got quite nostalgic.

Flying over Quito was an expierience in itself. It is a HUGE city surrounded by the Andes. It seemed so condensed and it spread for miles and miles. On the plane I spoke with a Quiteno and he gave us some ideas about what to do and see,he was very kind.

When we came out of the airport there was a lady waiting with a sign that said Dahren y Megan. Both of our names were spelled wrong but it was comforting to have someone there. At that point, the spanish began. She didn't speak any English so I had to dig out my rusty Costa Rican Spanish to communicate--but it worked. She understood me and we talked the entire ride.

She told us a little bit about the city and about the good things and the bad. I just finished a book about the oil exploration in Ecuador and I was trying to get some dirt about that. She instead wanted to talk about the Colombians who are giving Ecuador a bad name.

Regardless, we made it to the spanish school and eventually found a european style hostel. The altidude is giving me a bit of a headache (over 8000 ft.). But the tourist section that was supposed to be ridden with problems seemed generally safe. They call it "gringolandia" and it makes sense. There were bright lights, ethnic food, Salsa and Cumbia playing, and muchos extranjeros.

More to come. Tonight we sleep.