Mi nueva casa!

*Arranging for the internet to be installed in my new place has been crazy considering the language barrier and all. Finally back in the mix and ready to post.

Moved into my new place and feel really lucky to have snagged it. My landlady is the friendliest person I have met so far. She lives next door, and she worked at Colegio Americano for 42 years! When I decided on the place, she told me she would be "my mother" while I was in Quito. Two nights ago, after finally moving all my stuff in, she and her sister (they're roommates!) invited me over for wine, and a spaghetti dinner.

A small one bedroom, but is has a washer and dryer, it came fully furnished, and it has an awesome rooftop view. Best of all, with my monthly housing allowance, I am only paying $50 per month for rent!
Here's what it looks like.

   My landlady Bertha "Bertditta" (left) and her sister Lourdes

Pictures

View from my hotel balcony

A welcoming care package from my school which included: a reusable water bottle with the school name and logo printed on it, travel size colored guide book of Quito (en Espanol), and a reusable grocery bag. The opposite side of the bag says, "Mi Colegio Recicla: Plastico, Organico, Otros" This relieved all of the "Recycle friendly" Americans in the group.

Fresh Cantalope juice.

The only form of bike parking I saw in our 1 1/2 hour tour :(

La Loma del Itchimbia

The new hires

“He was impregnably armored by his good intentions and his ignorance.”
― Graham Greene, The Quiet American

Finished my first day here in Quito. My flight got in at 11:30pm, but immigration, customs and corralling this years' new hires made it so that we didn't arrive at our hotel until 2:00 am. Crashed right out and woke up feeling like I had been asleep for only a few minutes. 

Rather than eating a full meal, breakfast was spent meeting and getting to know some newbies from Colegio Americana de Quito. Next it was a fast and full schedule of: setting up a bank account, applying for our Visa document (not just the stamp in our passports), meeting the administrators of our school, stopping to remind ourselves "We're in Quito!",  and taking a small tour of the city (this place is HUGE!). Before I knew it, it was time for dinner.  Settled in at 8:30 and was able to Skype with my lady for a bit. 

As of right now, all of my feelings of nervousness have been replaced with excitement. Apartment hunting tomorrow!