Day 1....a little late

I am in Ecuador. The trip here was enough excitement to last me for a while, but I don’t have much time to get over that because tomorrow is orientation @ 8am. The flight from Roanoke to Charlotte was fine, all 6 of us on the plane had a great 45 minute flight. Then from Charlotte to Miami…I was in seated in front of 3 year old triplets. 3 year old triplets that like to sing. 3 year old triplets that like to sing loud. Anyway, I made it through that flight with the help of a Red Bull. I arrived in Miami a little late because of a slight delay in Charlotte but it didn’t really matter considering I had 8 hours to waste in Miami. Once I got off the place I went to baggage claim and found all my bags. I found them, moving them all together at once by myself was a feat, one that took me about 1 minute per foot that I got them away from the baggage carousel. Then, I realized there was no one in the Miami airport where I was. And I didn’t really want to stay there COMPLETELY alone. So I went upstairs. Here I found a few more people who were sleeping overnight waiting for their respective airline employees to arrive in the morning to check them in. I found a nice carpeted cement floor area next to a wall with an outlet and plopped myself and my 4 bags down. At one point in the night I decided I really wanted to go to sleep, however, the extremely uncomfortable position, 15 minute updates over the speaker of the time, and the people walking by made that an impossibility. Around 4:30am I sat up and started speaking to the guy beside me, turns out he was in the same boat as me. His name is Brett, from Michigan, and IS major, too, and is studying at USFQ this semester like me. So the two of us loaded up my cart and headed to the check in, where we were greeted by at least 75 other passengers who wanted to check in and check their baggage. 1.5 hours later, we had checked in. I was informed I had to stand in another line, the same size of course, and have my bags go through security. My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:15am, I got through this security baggage area at 7:15am. I ran up the stairs, only to find a 3rd incredibly huge line of passengers, the security line for the actual people getting on the plane and their carry on luggage. This took about 15 minutes longer. My gate was 23, out of 26. Meaning, I had to run all the way down the hall, along with about 40 other fliers running by my side. I reached the gate as they announced “Final Boarding Call for Flight 517 to Quito”. Needless to say the flight was late leaving and I had about had a panic attack in the process of getting to the plane. I was tired, grouchy, hungry, really super thirsty, I was light-headed and I thought I would puke or faint one before I even got to the plane. But I made it, and then I had to wait for 1 bag at baggage claim forever…the 1 small suitcase that I had planned to carry on that I had to pay an extra $100 to check, was the very last bag to come off the cars from the plane. Anyway, I found my bags, went through security again, and found my mother, Veronica. We got all the bags in her car somehow and came home. The city is bustling with people. I know that there is a pharmacy really close to the house where I am staying and there is a shopping mall, “El Jardin” with a popular park next to it also nearby. My understanding is it will take about 20 minutes to drive, 35 minutes for the bus to get to campus. Veronica has let me know she will be driving me Monday and Tuesday for orientation and she will be showing me how to use the bus system for future use. We got to the house, I got a tour, I have a cute little bedroom, it’s actually bigger than my room in the apartment in Blacksburg and my own bathroom (right across the hall from my bedroom). I then unpacked while Veronica prepared some lunch: beanie weenies, salad, and potatoes, with lemonade to drink. I got a lesson on how to get in and out of the house, my keys, etc. Then, I laid down for a nap. I just woke up a few minutes ago and I feel a little bit better but I still am extremely sleepy and my body is very tired. I have had a headache for quite a while now and I want to eat but I know I should let my body get on some kind of schedule. There is one daughter in the house, she is 23, maria clara. There are 2 dogs, one really old black dog that doesn’t really do much but waddle around and one younger dog, that likes to bark, lick, and sniff. But they are friendly and they don’t do much else other than bark, and I’m sure once they get used to me they won’t even do that as much. Well, I guess that’s about it for today. I asked Veronica about getting a cell phone & she said she has one for me. Once I get that and get it figured out and set up, etc. I will get that number to you guys. Oh, and I’ve also been smacked in the face with reality that I’m not so great at Spanish, not that I thought I really was. But it’ll take some practice…