Pre-Ecuador

I never know how to start these things. Well let's see how about I go back to 2009. I was having trouble getting ahold of the Justice Department to get my fingerprint paper work back so I could apply for my visa to Ecuador. Finally after a month after not getting through they finally sent me paper work, the wrong ones but at least I was getting somewhere. Long story short I got my visa on the 23rd about a week and a half before I left for South America.

I visited my friend Maia in Chile, and had a really good transition into Latin American culture. Let's just say I've never stuck my hand in a toilet so many times as a I did the 5 days I was in Chile. You see, if you didn't know, you can't and/or aren't supposed to flush paper. Sigh. But I am proud to report I'm getting the hang of it now. When it came time to leave I was given directions and written phrases so I could get the correct buses back to the air port. Once on the bus I read Little Women, which I brought for the trip, and a random verse popped up: in love there is no fear. This came in handy for the rest of the day, but at the moment I didn't think much of it. It turns out, I ended up at a slightly different bus stop than we first thought. So after walking a few blocks the wrong way with ridiculously heavy baggage, and tears in my eyes (repeating the verse over and over to keep from crying) I turned around and went back and tried out my Spanish at the bus stop I was dropped off at. After asking and then asking again, I found the correct bus. My troubles were over and I could now rest, right? Right... well apparently you can be too early to check in. So I was told the flight was already bored which didn't make sense (the woman didn't really speak much English) and then I was told to wait. Then 10 minuets later the lady "helping" told me the flight was full. I told her I already had go tickets a while before and somehow magical after arguing I had tickets again. She told me to weigh my bags and one had too much weight, so I tried to repack. Then she told me that it was the other bag was too much, so I was repacking the wrong bag. Then I tried to put it into my backpack and at this point I was tired (I should mention at this point that I had only slept for 2 and a half hours because of the stupid rooster outside the house the night before) and hot. Finally someone who spoke English came over and told me that the bags where too much altogether and I'd have to pay $165 USD to check the bags. I burst into tears (funny now, not so much then). I have to say that the flight was smooth and I arrived safe and sound (well somewhat) in Quito, Ecuador.