Hoollaaa a todos!

I'm so happy to be writing to you all as a collective unit instead of sending out endless facebook messages that always end up being short stories..hahaha. And as many people have been like "Bethany, get a grip and start a blog!" I've decided to finally put aside my laziness and jump-start one; an awesome one that is sure to be entertaining as we see what sorts of shenannigans Ecuador finds me in.

Today I'm celebrating my one-week aniversary in Quito! Woot! It's incredible that it seems like I've already been here for months. The sounds of humming traffic, barking dogs, the scents of Ecuadorian cuisine (hopefully NOT guinea pig!) wafting outside of local eateries and the breathtaking landscapes of tree-covered mountains are still so fresh from the first time I was here in Quito a month and a half ago. It's really almost as if I never left in the first place; the natural re-introduction to Ecuadorian life makes me question whether that blip of time in the U.P. and in Grand Rapids was an actual mini-season of my life. Broommmmaaaa! I'm totally kidding! You can't imagine how much I miss the deliciousness of U.P. pasties or the closeness of my family and friends. Or how much I miss my dovies, greybird and adventuring all over Days River Trails! But apart from those major thorns, things here in Quito have been a complete rollercoaster from the very first day I arrived. Let me start from the beginning and tell you all about it.

My flights to Quito in and of themselves were completely wild. I began the epic re-location to Ecuador at the ungodly hour of 5:00 A.M. in Andy Crosby's charming apartment after a full night of Kate Armor's wedding and a RiffTrax flick with Ben Stevens and Charlie Bleish. Snap! I zombie-like tagged along beside Andy as we made our way to the Amtrack station where we would be heading to Chicago. It was wonderful in the way that it worked out because Andy was touring Cooperatives in Chicago and my flight left during the evening from O'Hare. So we dozily climbed aboard the train hoping with all our might that sleep was going to come swiftly--not so my friends. We suffered through 4 hours of two of the most cursed children that I've ever been most unfortunate to be in the presence of. I'm not kidding--these hellions (I clearly remember that one was named Max) ran up and down the isle, screamed at the tops of their lungs just to engage in normal conversation and ultimately prevented Andy and I from getting any sort of restful sleep. And their moms! WTF?? They seriously did nothing more than cater to their every spoiled whim and tell them in the gentlest of voices to stop misbehaving when they clearly needed some hard-knocks punishment. I can't tell you how many times I woke up saying "f&^%$!" and wanting to leap out of my seat and shake them. Ahhh!

But the time in Chicago was wonderful once we got there! Andy and I visited a really cool cooperative were radicals live and carry out all sorts of crazy cool social justice projects! Hahaha...totally up my alley! We also ended up eating at an Ecuadorian restaurant just around the corner from the coop with my long-time Escanabian amigo Daniel Lange. The only part that was a little 'ehh' was carrying my rIDiculous luggage from the train station to the train that led to the airport. What a task! Andy and I walked probably five or so blocks setting goals like light posts and newspaper dispensers so that we didn't despair so much from nearly collpasing from fatigue. Ha! Can you imagine two touristy (well, maybe just me and not so much Andy..jeje) struggling along the sidewalks of Chicago with enormous luggage?

Well we made it to the airport and you know what? I just barely made my flight was 15 or so minutes to spare and a surprise charge of $150 dollars for my third piece of luggage! WWTTFF??! Can you believe that? I nearly went postal on the woman assisting me when I heard that. And if that wasn't the year's most outrageous moment, they charged me AGAIN in Miami for the stupid bag! 'Sure, go ahead, have another $100 of my precious monetary life-line.' Despicable, I tell you!

That flight wasn't bad and the wretched 13 hour or so layover in Miami's airport wasn't actually as tortuous as I was originally imagining. I got into the airport at aroudn 11PM and wanted nothing more than to scout out some semi-comfotable and deserted area to make concentrated efforts to sleep in. I found a seat tucked into this huddle of other unfortunate souls who were awaiting an early morning or afternoon flight and jumped on it immediately. Haha! Seriously, I was ready to hit the floor I was so tired. So I sat down and shortly thereafter I started chattin' with these two ladies that were from Jamica and Maryland; I swear that we covered the most random (yet informational) topics of any strangers that I've ever conversed with. We covered some serious ground on Michigan, world traveling and...human trafficking. Natalie Halloway's name always seems to find me in one way or another (I'll never hear the end of it from my mom), and sure enough we had a pretty thorough discussion about her situation and how I need to be careful not to follow suit. Yikes, right? But the craziest part of the Miami experience was the encounter that I had with a woman who hand found her way into the seat next to me. I noticed that she was Latina and her Latin heritage was confirmed when I heard her speaking Spanish to her young son. I invited her to put her feet up on my luggage to rest a bit and we started talking. I tell you, it could be 3 in the morning and if there are people around, I WILL talk to them! Hahaha...you already know ^_- Long story short she is from QUITO and gave me contact numbers in the case that I need legal advice from her aunt, friendship from her sister or help with legal docs from her uncle. How amazing is that???! Of all the seats that she could have found, she chose the one next to me. What are the odds that we would find one another and that she would turn out to be a complete blessing and confirmation of my seemingly crazy decision to move to Quito?? Simply incredible!

The flight to Quito from Miami was nothing less than balllleerr! I watched American Gangster (starring Denzel!), ate the most delicious airplane food of my life and was even offered complimentary wine after the meal. You're totally wondering what company I flew through, aren't you? Haha..if you ever fly into Latin America (which I hope many of you do to come visit me!), you totally need to get hooked up with LAN. They're a Latin American flight agency and will treat you like royalty. Seriously! When we landed I actually met THREE other peeps from the US that had just moved to Quito that very same day too! Talk about an answer to prayer for courage :) We exchanged contact info and I definitely felt relieved at knowing that I wasn't the only one making crazed decisions..haha.

Marcos picked me up at the airport and I ended up spending the entire week in Quito's most beautiful sector with his four male roomates..aahh! The area that he lives in is ssooooOOoo incredibly beautiful and calm; families live peacefully amongst themselves in rustic houses surrounded by beautiful trees, flowers and volcanoes in the distance. How awesome does THAT sound? That was definitely something--waking up and seeing the snow-capped Cotopaxi volcano in the distance through the bathroom window. But staying alone with his bro roomies was another thing entirely. As Marcos works like a madman all week and doesn't come home until the weekend, I was pretty much at the mercy of my own devices and felt like I was semi-literally thrown to the wolves...the man-wolves of Ecuador! Hahaha...as I got to know them individually throughout the week I found that they are all really nice, but can you imagine my first day there without Marcos? I literally stayed in my room for HOURS after I woke up because I was so terrified to leave and begin those first awkward converastions that would surely involve the explanation of who the hell I was. I finally did convince myself to come out and did have to explain who I was...aahh! At first I was like WTF? Marcos couldn't even tell any of his roomates about me or that I was coming? But later I would find out that someone actually robbed him recently and stole what? His cell phone of all things. That sounds a little more reasonable...or at least forgivable ^_-

The fist day I flew kites with Pancho and his girlfriend Ana Cristina! :D It was Sooo much fun chatting with them, joking around and of course flying a kite for the first time in my life! The fresh air, the mountains in the back and the brilliant Ecuadorian sun provided the perfect environment for my first kite-flying experience :) Overall the boys in the house looked after me and one named Dani (my favorite of the roomates) taught me how to cook a traditional Ecuadorian meal and even brought me food in Marcos' room one time because the other roomies and their friend were smoking in the kitchen and he didn't want me to be subjected to that...so nice!!! But that week was also a very lonley period and I was tthiiisss close to calling it all quits and chugging ahead with a plan to move back to the US stat. I spent my hours pondering my decision to move to Ecuador and what God had intended for me. It was good the time that I had to myself, but for me it was too much time alone and I was so desperate for familiar faces! But God was faithful and reuniting with Marcos at the end of the week was awesome! :D

Currently I am in the good graces of Sara's parents in a neighborhood of Quito called Carcelen. If you don't know who Sara is, she's the most wonderful woman who I met in Grand Rapids who is originally from Ecuador. She put me in contact with her parents and they warmly agreed to host me for some time :) They are an incredible family who love God and his people and have even offered me a job teaching English classes at the school which they founded 7 years ago. How amazing! Praise God!

I toured the school today and even attended an orientation. It's a beautiful school that hosts kindergarden through 7th grade and embraces all of the liberating educational theories that I learned from my incredible Lib Studies professors. I read that Paulo Freire was an influence and thought "This is the place for me!" The experience really was wonderful and I'm going to take the job. I start on Wednesday! Can you believe that I'm going to be teaching?? I NEVER thought that I would be in a position like this, but I know that it wasn't by chance that I landed here exactly in the time where Sara's parents were praying for an English teacher to come. The classes are only from 5-8 students and the environment is so incredibly loving that I know that I'm going to really love being there for some time.

Wheeewwww! So hours later, that's where I currently stand. What a whirlwind week! I couldn't have dreamed of a better place to be right now and am so excited and blessed to be in this place. I send you all my love from Quito and will earnestly try to be faithful in my updates..jejeje.

Have a wonderful week!

I'll post pics from Ecuador soon!

xoxoxo

Bethany: