I would be lying if I said that I felt excited last night when I boarded AeroGal flight 701 to Guayaquil, Ecuador. On the contrary, I was consumed with a fear of the unknown. I was afraid of the language barrier (and still am)… I was afraid of that first awkward encounter with my host family, whom I had never met… I was afraid of missing out on football games at BC this fall and Marathon Monday next spring. While I completely understand that I will certainly not regret my decision to take a year off, last night I couldn’t help but consider the possibility of leaving JFK Airport and simply not going abroad this fall.
My flight departed JFK at around 12:30AM and landed in Guayaquil, Ecuador at approximately 6:45AM. It was a combination of the dry “raviolis” served on the flight and the fact that I understood more or less zero words that the man at customs said to me which resulted in my first “what the hell am I doing?” I met three people who were also connecting to Quito and we spent our layover together. One of these people, a man from Cuenca, picked up my bill for breakfast without telling me. It wasn’t one of those creepy dude gestures, but more so, I think he saw that I was literally on the verge of shitting my pants out of fear of this whole ordeal. Regardless, there was a man on my second flight who had a straw wrapper on his forehead and usually people realize when they perchance have a straw wrapper on their head. I wanted to say something but did not know the word for “straw wrapper”. He eventually realized and seemed un-phased… that was strange to me. This was a pretty substantial straw wrapper.
When I landed in Quito my host mother, Marta, y host father, Jaime, were holding up a sign with my name on it. As we made our way to our car there were young children, maybe about 5-8 years old, begging for money. It reminded me very much of the airport in Managua, Nicaragua where I will never forget seeing a young boy, completely emaciated, putting up one finger (signaling one dollar). We made our way through Quito to our home. Although I was completely pooped at this point, I unpacked all of my clothes and then lunch was served.
At lunch I met my host sister for the first time, Isabel. She is twenty years old as well. I wish I could tell you everything we ate. I know there was fresh lemonade, some kind of soup that almost tasted like potato soup or pea soup but I am certain it was neither. We also ate roasted corn kernels, pasta, and chicken. It may be difficult adjusting to a large lunch and small dinner… especially because I am hungry all the time. We also ate cherry ice cream for dessert, which I had never had before. Also, we have a chow-chow dog named Coby who is so cute and, for someone who does not like big dogs, you know that means he is actually adorable.
I took una siesta after lunch for about three hours and then grandma came over. We had bread and cheese for dinner (so strange… where is my red meat?) The grandmother had just returned from the Galapagos, which I never knew meant “turtle” in Spanish. Silly me. I am excited to go there soon too! Cuisine mistake number one: the chocolate powder is used for hot chocolate… not chocolate milk. Marta y Jaime looked a little confused when I told them I didn’t want the leche to be hot… it was probably because the powder doesn’t really dissolve in cold milk. Out of respect I felt obligated to drink the powdery disaster. Ever try to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon? This was the next worst thing. Almost as embarrassing as that time I thought the grandma was telling me I was beautiful but, in retrospect, she was definitely referring to something I had mentioned in a story. Well, I thanked her for the compliment, and took the ego check.
After dinner it was time for grandma to go home so we all piled in the car and drove across Quito, which is absolutely beautiful during the nighttime. It is completely surrounded by mountains and the lights from the houses on the mountains make the scenery absolutely breathtaking. Fun fact: there are more KFC’s closer to my new school than there are by Boston College. Step up your game. Regardless, this made me ecstatic because, if you know me at all, you know I can’t live without mashed potatoes and gravy. Now, I am absolutely exhausted and we have our first day of orientation tomorrow! Buenas noches, putas.
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