I arrived in Quito, Ecuador on October 25, 2009 at 11:25pm. I anxiously got off the plane with the young teacher I had met and waited for my baggage, hoping and praying that it had made it! Then I stood in the customs line wondering what they would need and if they were going to ask me questions in Spanish...a million worries were going through my head, but in less than 10 minutes I was through customs and off to to entrance where I would meet my host family. I thought I was home free when a guard stopped me and asked to see my baggage receipt, I had no idea what that was because I have never been anywhere where I have needed it-until here. It is wonderful that they check that you have the correct bag, but I had to search for where they put it at check in. Then I looked all around my and had no idea who I was looking for, maybe a sign or something, but I could not see anything in the sea of people with signs so I got nervous and kept looking, then two people caught my eye as they waved and looked right at me with big grins. Martha Lucia and Fernando Ricuarte did not seem like what I had expected, but I was pleasantly surprised.
It only took about 15 minutes to get to their house from the airport because they also live on the north end of Quito. The urbanization/gated neighborhood is called Campo Alegre. I definitely had the feeling of "Oh shit, I am not prepared for the life of luxury" moment when I thought of what I brought in my only suitcase, but I right away started to unpack in my new room and then emailed family to let them know that I arrived safely, so I did not gt to bed until around 1:30am and knew that I was going into the school the next morning, so I had to be up by 6am!
