9/17/04
We really appreciate your comments on the website!!!
We´ve both been pretty tired since arriving. The combination of the elevation, the super-poor air quality, and trying to resurect Spanish from the vaults of my memory have been enough to render me unconscious for at least 10 hours per night plus a siesta here and there. However, as Jim said in his entry, we´ll be starting classes early Monday morning and will then be on more of a ´normal´schedule.
We´ve both been going through a range of emotions since arriving. Relief washed over us once we got on our plane for Quito. We´d been talking about our trip for so long, and now we were finally on our way. A health dose of fear has been put into us, as we´ve been told (by an English woman) that Quito can be "a bit dodgey" at times...don´t worry, I´ve got Jim to protect me if anything should happen :-). Lately I´ve been overwhelmed mostly. We have 4 months to explore this continent and it doesn´t seem like nearly enough. I´ve already fallen in love with Ecuador and all I´ve seen is Quito. I could happily explore this area until January but there are so many other places I want to visit. There are so many things to do and see, the jungle, the mountains, the beach. So many opportunities to volunteer, teach and explore. I know, it´s tough to be me :-).
One opportunity we found out about is visiting the prisons in Quito. There are many foreigners imprisoned here, mostly for drug trafficking and sentences tend to be from 4 to 8 years. A group goes to the prison once weekly to bring things like fruit and toiltries and to spend time with the prisoners. From the list of prisoners I saw, there were many Americans. We are planning to visit next week.
So for now, we´ll be in Quito one more week, studying Spanish and living with an Ecuadorian family...should be interresting to see what kind of ´vegetarian´ food they come up with to feed me.
Peace and Love, Lisa