Hola de Quito!

18 days ago I was busy getting ready for this, and now I'm here! I got in last night around 11pm, made I through customs and immigration(they didn't reject me yet!) and was picked up by madre Cindy! Being that I got in so late, I was given a quick tour, shown where the drink water is(still unsure about it lol), unpacked some stuff since I was on a bit of an adrenaline rush, and crawled into my new bed. My accommodations are pretty generous. The center is much bigger than I expected, there's a tv and tons of movies, and there's even wifi for Petes sake!
I am also the only one to come without a laptop or iPad. So even though there is a computer to use for Internet, I'm blogging from my iPod, so I apologize if this entry is all over the place and is more a train of thought than anything logical or well organized as I usually try to do. Ah well, my faithful readers will appreciate my efforts!

This morning I woke up around 7am to use the bathroom-- which I have my own--and I stuck my head out from the curtains. Talk about a room with a view! Not only are the Andes before my eyes, feet away, there's an active volcano up in the peaks! I had no words as I made my first encounter with daytime Quito and can't wait to get to know his place better!

The late morning and early afternoon was spent getting to know some of the voluteers, who are from Washington state to LA to florida to jersey! Everyone seems nice, but this is a total flashback to freshman year of college: small talk, feeling people out, and apples to apples. Ah well, I'm sure it will be fine As the days progress. We are all in he same boat and know no one in he city! We spent the rest of the day exploring the colonial center and later went to a cafe in the bar area of the city, which I learned later From madre city that we were not allowed to go at night anymore nbecause some of he volunteers had problems there last year. Luckily we have a few experienced grigos in the group to find a watering hole!

Anywho, day one went well and perhaps I'll do a deeper blog as I get a better feel for my situation and the people around me. Don't want to prejudge!