The Arrival

I was really nervous to be flying to Quito alone. I have only flown one other time so I was unfamiliar with all the processes of flying. I made it through and the people that worked in both the Detroit airport and the one in Miami were very helpful. I had a long layover in Miami where I met other students not only from CMU but also from other states like Colorado and North Carolina that are in the same program as us. We also met a local man from Quito that told us a lot about the city.  After the layover it was time to fly to Quito!

After talking to all of the other students I was really excited to get to Quito. This flight I wanted to try and stay awake so I could see all of the things that we were going to be flying over. First we flew over Miami which was really cool to see all of the tall building look like tiny sticks. As we kept flying we flew over Cuba and then over the ocean to Colombia. The ocean from so far in the sky looked like an old oil painting, cracked and wrinkly. After that it all become clouds.

When the flight attendance announced that we would be descending soon everyone on the plane instantly looked towards the windows. All you could see where large cotton candy looking clouds. There was no land  or city in sight. The plane started to dive into the clouds and you could see nothing out of the windows then all of a sudden there was the land. It was green with small lights everywhere. Then off in the distance there was a snow covered mountain and you could see the hills with houses starting to appear. It was one of the most amazing views of my life and my fear of flying left me because that view was breathe taking and worth all the stress of flying.

After costumes at the airport my host family was waiting for me. They were so excited to see me. We had an hour long bus ride into the city since this was the new airport that was built just outside the city. My host family got me home and showed me around and all of the things that were normal in there house. They feed me dinner which consisted of rice, chicken, yucca and a sauce and some juice that was better than any juice I have ever tasted. I think I am going to be eating really well here. Well more on my host family later.