First Time This Blog is Actually Informative

I wrote this on the night I first arrived, at like 3 in the morning. No promises for coherency.

Guess who loves her host family? This guy! I am successfully in Quito, in my own room at my house! This is so awesome!

Leaving the US was hard. Saying goodbye to Zak, Ma and Lest especially. I love them each so much, and so individually, that its hard to not have them be a huge part of my life. But that’s growing up kind of stuff.

The last day was nice, too. I woke up early and took a walk with mom, despite the monsterous blisters on both heels. Went to Mark’s Kitchen for breakfast, and ate a lot of carbohydrates.

The airplanes were boring. I didn’t really bring a book or anything, so I mostly puzzled over the “Gentle” Soduku from three different “American Spirit” magazines, only half completing each one.

In Miami, I met all the other K kids. We were loud and sat in a circle, taking about sharing toothbrushes and other savory topics. It was good to see people again, a group of kids similar to me. Flight to Quito was boring, slept a lot, ate some nasty pasta, half-watched this horrible kids movie called, like, “Taming Your Pet Dragon.” Also, then The Office was on, and it was the one about Pam having the baby, which I thought was kind of weird to show on an airplane. We flew over Quito twice because there were other planes ahead of us to land, and, man, is it beautiful. Its in a valley but has ridges itself. There are other orientative features that I have been told of, but I have forgotten all of that information.

Waited to get off plane. Waited for immigrations. Could not find hiking backpack. Waited with Sarvie and Melba to file claims. Waited for Customs (they just put my bag through an x-ray. Unsure of purpose).

Then! I met my family. My mother is named Pilar, and she is short and about 45 or 50. I liked her immedietley when she bought a pack of gum from a begger/selling stuff lady in the parking lot. Her son (??) Roberto drove Malcolm and his host mom, Pilar’s mother, to their house, along with me and Pilar and somebody’s granddaughter named Manuela. She is turning 9 on Tuesday and Malcolm and I are invited to the party.

I live in an apartment on the second floor. The first floor is a bakery, and this is awesome. The apartment is very big. There is a kitchen, diningroom/main room with a computer, a living room with a futon, a bathroom, and three bedrooms.

The house is very friendly and decorated with masks, posters, and sculptures, ranging from totally tacky angel figures to sweet indigenous stuff. There’s a Bob Marley poster in the bathroom, and my bed faces a wall-sized blow up of a picture of the earth from space. Peeling, the flowered wallpaper is visible below.

Pilar lives here with her son (??) Jimmy. He is 22 and a metalhead. I like him already. He has a drumset in his room. Pilar showed me her room (it has a hand drawn poster saying “Peace!!” on the door), and told me that I am welcome to chill out on her bed and watch TV. This rules. We are going to eat breakfast at 10 and then walk around and figure things out.

Also, they have a water filter. This rules.