Arrival in Quito

My habit before a trip, any trip, is not only to pack, but to organize everything in my life completely if not as compulsively as possible. That means that I balance my checkbook, make sure my billing is up to date at the office, answer all messages and take care of all prescriptions etc, clean every room of the house, put every bit of my life in order, and more. I watch myself with awe, as I try to accomplish an extraordinary amount of work. Because there is a time limit, I know that my list of tasks has an end, and that increases the pressure and improves my efficiency. I do not sleep as I whirl from one item on my list to another, and I feel a certain manic frenzy that is embarrassing. I pack for Maya and myself, and often pile up Eric's clothes as well. Eric is usually at the lab until the last moment, and has been working all night every night this week. I pack and repack and repack again, pouring through my packing list and start with double what I need and try to eliminate as much as possible.

By 3 AM, I convinced myself that none of this insanity was necessary, and turned off the lights and fell asleep immediately. Eric did not come home from the lab until it was time to wake up and get ready to go. We took a taxi to meet the students at Mason Hall at Johns Hopkins at 9 AM, which was a much better time than 6 or 7, which is the usual meeting time (when we leave from Reagan International instead of BWI). The bus was not yet there when we arrived, but the students trickled in. I liked meeting each of them, trying to remember their names. Maya is so much more adept at getting to know each and every one in no time at all. She was chattering with them and engaging them in minutes, as she usually does.

Today was to be a day of travel, with all the usual frustrations and boredom. I asked for passports and green cards before we left the university, but one student realized that she did not have her green card and had to take a taxi back to her dorm to get it and return to the airport just in time to catch the flight, not an unusual complication for our student groups.

We always start early and leave lots of time to manage mishaps, and plan for a long layover, this time in Atlanta, once again to give us time to take care of any obstacles. We lined up the students for a group photo. There has been a great exhibit of Zimbabwan sculptures between terminals for several years now, so several of us enjoyed them. I took the train to the terminal in the opposite corner of the airport to find a duty free shop, and suddenly it was time to board our flight for Quito. Maya and I were delighted to find individual screens in front of us, and each watched movies late into the night.

The skies were spectacular as we floated above the clouds and watched the sun set gradually, the reds and oranges and yellows spreading out beside us. I tried to take photos with my new point and shoot camera and hope that some worked out.

We landed late in the evening, and waited in a long line to get through passport control and customs. I ran into a group of medical workers visiting to set up a clinic in Tena, including a psychiatrist and a pharmacist and several young and idealistic students. I was happy to hear Spanish and start to speak it and found myself getting excited as we collected our bags, climbed onto the baggage transporter for a group photo, and moved through to the other side of customs. Our guide Tomas was there to greet us and lead us to our bus. The parking lot was unchanged with the same billboards and advertisements. We drove the five alumni who are traveling with us to the 'Casa Aliso' hotel, which is far superior to our modest 'Sierra Madre'.This is the first trip with mixed students and alumni, so it has a different flavour. Everyone is enthusiastic. By now, Maya has connected with each individual student and alumni, knows their names and something about each of them and will be reminding Eric and I about their names for the rest of the trip. She bonded with them through card games at the Atlanta airport.

I recognized the workers at the hotel, having visited many times. I was not hungry for the snack provided and was just eager to get to bed as soon as possible. Our wakeup time was to be at 7, and I had slept only three hours in the last 24. We never do sleep much during these trips, so I try to make sleep a priority when it is possible.

Quito felt very welcoming, perhaps because everything is so familiar for us.