Lindsey: Day 1 was dedicated to traveling...all 12 hours of it! We got to the airport at 6:45am and met with the rest of the 60+ volunteers in our group. This is our "before Ecuador" shot. I'm assuming the "after" will look the same, only we'll probably be dirtier and with a sunburn :)
Oddly enough, we ran into Troy, Jeff & Scott from work who were on their way to visit Kaplan - they were on our exact flight to Atlanta! We just thought they were stalking us in hopes of stowing away and hitching a flight to Ecuador, but I guess a client visit is a good excuse. We had a 2 hour layover in "Hotlanta" then took off for the rest of the 5 hours to Quito, Ecuador. I've grown a new appreciation for my video Ipod, since the cheapskates at Delta made you pay for movies on an international flight! We landed at about 9:30pm, made it through customs (whew!) & immigration and gathered all our luggage. We only had 1 casualty out of all the luggage we brought...unfortunately it was someones carry on that had all their clothes, personal items & money for the whole trip. Last minute, he decided to check it...bad move. 
We exited the airport and were told to throw our luggage into a giant yellow dump truck for the trip to Otavalo. Don't worry, the truck was protected by Che Guevara!2 hours, a bag of Starbursts, and a few broken seat belts later, we arrived in Otavalo. 
We got dropped off on a street somewhere at 2am, unloaded our bus and walked several blocks, luggage in tow, to the main hotel. Everyone was in chaos trying to figure out their rooms. Just a premonition of the many situations where no communication or direction was given. We made the best of it, though. Ellie & I were actually not assigned a room for some reason, so we stole someone else's, as they hadn't arrived that night and weren't coming until the next day. It was a "matrimony" room...that's right...one full sized bed and a pillow to share! 
Very romantic...or something... Bonus was we had our own TV and bathroom, so we didn't complain. The adventure has already begun and we just got here!
Oddly enough, we ran into Troy, Jeff & Scott from work who were on their way to visit Kaplan - they were on our exact flight to Atlanta! We just thought they were stalking us in hopes of stowing away and hitching a flight to Ecuador, but I guess a client visit is a good excuse. We had a 2 hour layover in "Hotlanta" then took off for the rest of the 5 hours to Quito, Ecuador. I've grown a new appreciation for my video Ipod, since the cheapskates at Delta made you pay for movies on an international flight! We landed at about 9:30pm, made it through customs (whew!) & immigration and gathered all our luggage. We only had 1 casualty out of all the luggage we brought...unfortunately it was someones carry on that had all their clothes, personal items & money for the whole trip. Last minute, he decided to check it...bad move. We exited the airport and were told to throw our luggage into a giant yellow dump truck for the trip to Otavalo. Don't worry, the truck was protected by Che Guevara!2 hours, a bag of Starbursts, and a few broken seat belts later, we arrived in Otavalo. We got dropped off on a street somewhere at 2am, unloaded our bus and walked several blocks, luggage in tow, to the main hotel. Everyone was in chaos trying to figure out their rooms. Just a premonition of the many situations where no communication or direction was given. We made the best of it, though. Ellie & I were actually not assigned a room for some reason, so we stole someone else's, as they hadn't arrived that night and weren't coming until the next day. It was a "matrimony" room...that's right...one full sized bed and a pillow to share! Very romantic...or something... Bonus was we had our own TV and bathroom, so we didn't complain. The adventure has already begun and we just got here!
We were in Otavalo for 10 days and Quito for 2, and had an amazing time serving the Ecuatorians. Remember: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
