Friday, August 20, 2010

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Take off!

August 20, 2010 - at 1ish AM

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: They say you will never be lonely from the start of each day to its end if you walk life’s pathway with love in your heart...

The day before I left I was hoping I could simply rest and chill with my family, but of course that did not happen. I had to buy a few more things, such as mosquito repellent, and say one more goodbye to my cousins, aunts and uncles, and my grandma. As I was leaving my nina’s house (my aunt), I hugged my grandma, my nina, my cousin Nidia and then my cousin Nadia. I had kept it together until I hugged Nadia who hugged me as if she didn’t want to let go. That’s when all of us women began to tear up and cry. Thanks Nadia! So there I went again to hug Nidia, my nina and my grandma. I told them all I loved them. Saying goodbye to my sister and her family was no exception. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my nephew Arturo and my niece Stefany. I love them both dearly and I can’t wait to tell them about my experience here when they get older. I hope that one day they, too, have big dreams. For my last day in the “States,” I was also hoping to spend the entire day with Henry (my boyfriend), but unfortunately he had to work. He was very sorry, but I understand that work is work; nonetheless he hung out with me later in the day. I decided I wouldn’t sleep because I was scared I wouldn’t hear my alarm and I’d miss the plane. Plus, I needed to triple-check that I had all of the necessary documents already packed and ready to go.

So we (Henry and my parents and I) left to the airport at 3am. Yonseili and I checked in our bags and hung out for about half an hour. When the time came, we said goodbye to our families. I had a knot in my throat; I definitely didn’t cry as much as I thought I would when we left El Paso. It was hard leaving my parents and Carlos at the airport, but part of me was so excited I was stronger than I expected to be. I believe this trip, aka CHALLENGE, has come at a good time in my life. I needed a break from the routine and I needed to do something different. I know I can do this. I will survive!

The wait in Atlanta, Georgia, was almost as hard and about as long as the flight to Quito. All the comments about the airport were no joke – the airport really is enormous – so thank God I was with Yonseili; she definitely knew her way around. Ashley met us there, so we went from being two to three. We waited a while before we could see the city name Quito up on the gate screen. It was almost surreal to see that.

The flight was extremely long to say the least. We were on the air for 5 hours I believe. It was a bit weird being able to watch iCarly so high up in the air. I also watched The Last Song, which wasn’t bad but wasn’t good either. Yonseili and I, being that we got to sit together, got more and more excited as we got closer. We were able to see where the plane was on the screen in front of us. As we were landing, we took pictures and video from the plane. The city looked amazing and it looked very busy. Lights were running up and down all the hills, and there are plenty of hills. It was really neat to see everything that Yonseili and I had been looking at on the internet right in front of us. When we landed we asked the captain/pilot if we can take a picture with him. He said yes, AND he let us take a picture in the cock pilot; Yonseili wore the captain’s hat and sat in the captain’s seat. Now it was time to check in, get our luggage and meet our families!

Our happiness shut down after Yonseili and I noticed our luggage was nowhere to be found…just great! We had to get in “line” to fill out a form to report lost/delayed luggage. We waited there for so long that we were worried our host parents would leave because they’d think we didn’t show up after all. After a long time, a man came toward the crowd and we were relieved to see he was holding two papers with our names on them. The only problem was that he didn’t have Ashley’s name… I can’t imagine how Ashley felt. She had waited for us, but after she saw that (or didn’t see that), she obviously panicked a bit and decided to get ahead of us to see if her family was there. Yonseili and I finally left the crowd of upset Delta passengers and proceeded on with our carry-on’s to finally meet our host-families.

My Ecuadorian host father, Carlos Polit, is about 5’5”-5’6”, and is “moreno” or, I guess, brown. His hair is very short, like you can see his scalp, and his hair is spiky/straight. He was wearing a jean jacket with a green hoodie under, and jeans. He must be in his late 30’s or early 40’s. Who also seems that age is my host mom, Adriana Arango, and she is Columbian. She is from the same city as Juanes, Medellin. Yonseili was picked up by her host parents’ secretary, Carmelita. Ashley did not have anyone there to pick her up. We brought her along and into a taxi we went… there were 6 of us and the driver. My host parents were in the front passenger seat and in the back were the three of us girls and Carmelita. I’m not sure about the driver, but the rest of us did not have a seat belt on. That was interesting.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Definitely arriving to Quito, Ecuador. It’s still a bit surreal that I am doing all of this.


Walk in the paths He shows you: follow the life-map absolutely, keep an eye out for the signposts… then you’ll get on well in whatever you do and wherever you go. 1 KINGS 2:1 THE MESSAGE

1 comment:

  1. I have lived in Quito for over 16 years, I am happy to help with any questions you might have about the country. Patrick- bullock0005@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete