We've made it safe and sound to Quito! Our flights went very smoothly, no real delays and no real turbulence. Some of you know that Ryan doesn't like to fly, but he did a very good job especially on our second flight.
Mom and Dad Bogdan drove us to the airport this morning. They parked and saw us to the gate... no bus for us. We went through security pretty quickly, although they did pull my bag out to check the Kitchenaid. Don't worry all is well in the world and the Kitchenaid is safely in Quito now! =) We stopped at the Admiral's Club and relaxed for a couple of minutes before we boarded for Miami.
In Miami, we went to the Admiral's Club again and were able to check our bags there so we could go get lunch without an additional 100 lbs. We were able to eat at the cuban restaurant, as my Dad suggested and we stopped at the Duty Free and bought a bottle of Champagne.
I slept most of the way to Ecuador, which was nice. Ryan is literally exhausted. The hostel picked us up at the airport and we were able to check in without any hassle. The hostel has this really weird layout which caused us to haul all 300 lbs of our luggage up 4 flights of stairs, cross a hallway to the backside of the building, and then down 3 flights of stairs. Very odd and very tiring. Luckily a very nice hostel employee helped us!
The city itself is amazing thus far (although its dark and we can't see much). We walked out of the airport in t-shirts and the nights breeze was cool and refreshing. The hostel has the coolest rooftop terrace with a pretty delicious sounding kitchen. The terrace overlooks the city, which is all lit up at night. They have a big bon fire in an old wheelbarrow, where we sat and chatted with another traveller over regionally brewed beer! Couldn't have been better.
On a different note, thanks to everyone for all of their support in this transition. We still don't feel like it is real but we're trying to take in every moment that we can. After six months of planning, dreaming, wishing, and worrying we are finally here in Ecuador to live and to teach and to explore with each other this new continent.
I've always travelled by myself, which is what I'm used to and lately I've always said to myself "man, I wish Ryan was here to experience all of these new things with me!" and now he's here and it doesn't seem real. It's very comforting and takes the scariness out of solo-traveling. It really is a dream come true.
Keep us in your thoughts and your prayers. Breakfast ends at 10am tomorrow and it sounds amazing for $2. So we're planning on getting up, going to breakfast and then setting out to explore our new home. But for now... we sleep. Upstairs we can faintly hear the sound of someone playing the guitar and a couple people singing, lots of laughter, and that friendly conversation that only happens in hostels... what a way to fall asleep.
MULUB!
--Taylor
