no slugs were a-salted in the making of this film

I´m in Quito, Ecuador!!! *freaks out a little bit* I´m still in disbelief that this is all happening. Sure, I´ve only been here a few hours, but sometimes it totally hits me in the face. I´m so scattered, I don´t know where to start... well, let´s try the beginning!
I woke up at 5:45am so that I could catch a 6:30am taxi to the airport. I had leftover pizza for breakfast (so exciting, I know) in the apartment, and then proceeded to have a delicious breakfast of sugar and caffeine at the airport (aka a chocolate croissant and a mocha). It was interesting checking in and checking my bags, because LAN (the airline I flew on) caters to almost entirely Spanish speaking customers. I almost felt embarrassed to have to tell them that I spoke English.
Walking down the long corridor to the plane, I suddenly got this weird feeling. A little anxious, nervous, and excited. It started to hit me I wasn´t just getting on any old plane, but a plane that was going to take me to another world. Thinking about how the rest of my friends were at school (some not even awake), going to classes, and here I was, boarding a plane to go learn Spanish for 4 months, and GET CREDIT for it! So freaky...
Our initial (and longest) flight to Guayaquil (pronounced gwhy-a-keel) was mostly smooth with a few bumps, and didn´t feel like a 6 or 7 hour flight at all. There was an ADORABLE little girl, probably 2 years old sitting two rows ahead of me. I kept smiling and waving at her, and she would smile and wave back, and at the end of the flight, she cried because she couldn´t reach me when I was waving!
On the flight, I watched the movie Flicka, which was quite good (I never read the book though, which surprises me, because in elementary school, I read every horse book our library had!) I later watched the movie Flushed Away, which I hadn´t ever really wanted to see. It turned out to be quite hilarious!! The singing slugs, jokes, and all-around humor was wonderful, and I feel like Evelyn, Joanna, and Ethan would have appreciated it most. (C´mon, adorable singing slugs, a mime frog, what more can you ask for?)
I was so nervous when filling out my forms for customs, and some nice women about my age sitting next to me tried to help. They didn´t speak much English, but it all worked out in the end.
The food. Airplane food. I´ve never had real airplane food before. It was surprisingly good. We had a mid-morning snack of a ham sandwich, and for lunch (around 2 or 3pm) we had wild rice with green beans, lima beans, corn, and carrots, with a chicken breast, a roll, and a decent attempt at cheesecake.
I was so nervous for my connecting flight in Guayaquil, even though I was flying out on the same plane I came in on! We all had to get off, those with connecting flights had to go through another security line (why, I have no idea), and then get back in line to get on the plane again. I sat in the same row both times, but two different seats.
The rest of the flight to Quito was fine (only like 30 minutes long) and the view when we began to land was amazing. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and the city was full of large buildings and busy streets. I didn´t know what to expect, but I certainly wouldn´t have expected what I saw.
When I finally met Maria, the director of the program, she was picking up her husband also. She pointed things out to me as we drove to the hotel, and I was totally shocked to see a Tony Roma´s!! (Alongside it was also a McDonalds, a Burger King, among other American chains). Her husband, Chris, said "And on your left, you´ll see globalization." Later we passed by¨"Gringolandia" ("white people land") where there are lots of American chains, internet cafes, and the like. It´s good to know where it is though, so I can make sure to keep updating you all!
Finally, we got to the hotel, and I met my roomie for the weekend of orientation. Her name is Marijanna and she´s from Pitzer. She´s really nice, and we hit it off right away. (We´re already planning to go take dance classes and travel together!) We talked for awhile, then ate in the restaurant in the hotel. We´ve decided to try lots of different juices (a different one at every meal. Tonight was blackberry, and delicious). I ordered an amazing sopa de esparragos (asparagus soup) and tortellini with ricotta and spinach (which was ok). It was so good to eat! (We finally ate dinner at like 9:30pm). My tummy´s quite satisfied, and I´m starting to get sleepy. It will be really nice to sleep on a real bed too! (futons and air-mattress sofa beds are nice, but I miss a real bed). I was really excited that the hotel has free internet (at least for the first 15 minutes, or until someone fusses at you! haha!)
I know there are so many adventures ahead! And my Spanish will really be put to the test tomorrow as we are all sent into town in groups to do things like ask where we can buy stamps and such. It´s still coming to me slowly that I get to do this learning Spanish and exploring another country for the next few months. I can´t wait to start taking pictures and showing you all!! (Though I don´t want to look like TOO much of a tourist! haha!)
OH! And I found out that my host family I think has two younger brothers and a younger sister (ages 4-11). I´m really excited to meet them!!
¡Buenas noches!