Okay, first and foremost I'm going to have to get used to this whacky keyboard again...

¡Pues! I'm still in Quito. All in all, I have to say that everything, so far, is going swimmingly. Better than I expected or hoped. Things are always easier than I think they will be. That is one benefit of worrying and stressing too much -- you can only be happily surprised.

My twelve hour layover in Miami turned out to be kind of fun after all. Like I mentioned before I ended up randomly meeting this nice girl from Guayaquil near the coast and two dudes from Columbia. I talked to them all for a few hours, which did make the time pass faster indeed. It was good to know I wasn't the ONLY one who had to sleep in the airport. Besides, that was probably the most Spanish I've spoken since I left Spain.
I am actually pleased at how my Spanish is going. I remember more than I thought I would. That doesn't mean of course that my airport friends didn't laugh at me a lot, especially because I used vosotros instead of ustedes. And the lisp. And okay so I mixed up the words for winter (invierno) and hell (infierno) but that doesn't mean you have to keep bringint it up, even hours later. But okay it was kind of funny.

The Spanish here is quite different, but I'm doing pretty well. It's kind of annoying though because I know all these little phrases that the Spaniards use, you know, little fillers that make you speak naturally -- stuff like, anyways, or well, or you know, stuff like that in English. But they use different phrases here, so I sound weird. Or they just plain old don't know what I mean, or think I'm saying it wrong. Plus my accent is different. The lisp is confusing me. I'm using it about half the time, and half the time not. Personally I LIKE the lisp, and I like using it, but I think it might just be confusing. Either way though, I am hoping my silly accent just makes me seem cute. And exótica.

My meeting random friends continued after the plane landed. On the flight there were like five Americans and 200 Ecuadorians. I saw this girl get on who looked my age, was carrying a nalgene and had chacos on. I knew at once she must be a kindred spirit. When we got off the plane she struck up conversation with me. Apparently she had noticed my I Heart Chow Nasty sticker on my nalgene and decided I must be cool. Her name is Marissa and she's from around LA. We started talking and stuff and she's actually doing practically the same thing as I am, but in a different place. She's going to an ecolodge near Cotopaxi, which is the country's highest volcano, and incidentally the point on the earth closest to the sun. I on the other hand am going to an ecolodge in the cloud forest.

So I met my homegirl from Alaska Christina in the airport, and the three of us went off together. I checked into my hostel which is super-cool. It's a totally hip backpacker's hostel, perhaps a little too hip for me, but everybody there is nice and wants to talk to you. Actually I was thinking about volunteering there, but now, I've been in Quito for two days and I remember why I don't like living in cities, so I don't think I'm going to pursue it.
Which is not to say I haven't been having a good time, just that, eh..three days is enough time with all these cars and buildings and people and dirty things. I'm ready to go back to the woods. Marissa and I have been doing most things together, wandering around mostly, oggling at churches and market wares. Of course, of COURSE after being here for like six hours I already bought this really awesome purse, cute sweater, and a hat. But everything is so CHEAP and AWESOME, it's hard to resist. Besides those are things I'll use for sure. The problem really becomes my limited space.

Sunday Christina, Marissa and I hung out for a while, and yesterday we met up with Christina again, along with her fellow Peace Corps volunteer friend Joseph, who incidentally had a serious burn on his hand from stamping out a flaming child he saw on the road when he was riding into work on his bike. So in other words, I am making connections all over the place. Christina is stationed in the Galápagos, and I might go there to spend a Darwin Christmas with her. Joseph is somewhere in the jungle, and I might visit him at some point. And Marissa is in Cotopaxi. This is great.

So let me see, what else. I managed to get the shits within 48 hours of being here. I don't even know how. I didn't eat anything especially weird or dirty. Or so I thought. But today I feel a bit better. Incidentally having the shits is made more inconvenient in a country where they do not always supply toilet paper, or a toilet seat. Still, I have to say that so far the bathrooms are better than they are in Spain. And there's less dog shit on the roads too.

Tomorrow I go off to the cloud forest. Tengo ganas. I hope it is cool. See, I'm still stressing about that because I haven't seen it yet. But..it'll probably be fine. ¡Vamos a ver!