It just occured to me as I was sitting on the bus thinking about how to update my friends and family about my whereabouts, that I should just start a blog. My first idea had been to email which I guess would be more personal, but I kind of missed writing so this seemed fitting.
Getting here was absolute hell and for a second there I thought it wasn't going to actually happen. My flight out of Greensboro to Miami with American Airlines was delayed two hours. Instead of arriving at 5:30pm, I made it to Miami at 7:30pm. My next connecting flight was at 9pm so I thought I'd be okay. Wrong. Turns out AeroGal, the Ecuadorian airline closes their ticketing counters an hour before their flights depart. Convenient considering I had to wait a whole half hour for my luggage. Not to mention that American Airlines is on the complete opposite side of AeroGal in the airport. I made it 10 minutes late, 8:10pm, and the very friendly, or not, male at the counter would do absolutely nothing for me. He suggested I come back tomorrow to get on the next flight.
"Great! When is it?"
He replies "At 9"
"Perfect! 9am??"
"No. 9 pm. Come back tomorrow."
:
So as I go back very angrily to American Airlines to see what they can do about not getting charged a fee for not making my flight, I'm freaking out because I bought my two tickets seperately. And airlines never like to help you when you do that.
However, I got very lucky. The guy at the counter confessed that he wasn't supposed to be doing this, since I had bought my connecting ticket seperate from American Airlines, but he was going to help me stay in a hotel for the night free with food vouchers to eat in their cafe. :) Very relieved. I wasn't looking forward to staying in the airport for 25 hours.
So the next day I laid out at the pool, packed my stuff again and head to the airport 6 hours early hoping to be first in line when they opened their counters at 5pm. And thank goodness I was. Because the same guy from the night before still didn't want to let me on that plane.
Apparently when you go traveling to other countries, the last thing you should ever do is buy a one way ticket. Although I had gotten Ricardo to double check with their embassy and immigration about any trouble I would have because of my ticket, and they said it would be fine.. this guy was not having it. According to Ecuadorian immigration, the only thing that would happen is that when I arrive at the airport in Quito, they would simply hand me a 90 day tourist visa and tell me that I must return to their embassy to either leave or apply for some sort of visa. But this guy in Miami insisted that I either had to have an Ecuadorian id, passport or a visa for longer than 90 days and if I didn't have either he would have to call Ecuador's embassy and have them call back and confirm my entry. Really?? Ecuador could care less about my entry and I knew they would not call back.
So I waited for an entire hour.. until finally the guy was tired of seeing me next to his counter sitting on my suitcases staring at him. He apparently made some sort of ticket reservation for a flight that will head back to the States Aug. 20. that will allow me to enter the country without too many questions, and finally let me check my effin baggages.
And so I made it safe and sound after a 5ish hour flight, which was supposed to be direct but apparently wasn't. It's almost the end of my first week and to be honest, I still feel like I'm just on vacation again. But I'll report back once I land my first job. Which by the way might end up pretty well.
My cousin knows a girl who works at the airport as a.. well I'm not really sure what the position is called exactly. She's leaving to France with her husband and is having trouble finding someone to replace her who speaks both languages well. But basically the job is working with Americans/ English speaking travelers needing help getting settled during their visit and blah blah blah. Airport jobs here pay relatively well and have all sorts of great benefits. Downside however, I was hoping to finally have one of those normal big people jobs that open weekdays only 9-5 guaranteeing you every night and weekend off. But worse than Starbucks, is the airport. Those people NEVER close! My cousin said the job goes in shifts too, so I might end up working an ocassional night shift. :-\
But we'll see, I still have to meet with the girl next week and plus I'm keeping my options open by checking other places out too.
Be back soon with more news!!
lots of love<3<3
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