Orientation

SIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHH (of relief)

Orientation was great! They gave us a lot of information regarding safety and security and clearer travel instructions. But, the best thing about today is that there are 24 other volunteers here. We've done icebreakers (no trustfalls, unfortunately) and had a lot of time to talk about our anxieties and aspirations and, (as I should have guessed) we are all on the same page. Everyone seems very nice and more normal than I expected (not a single pair of Birkenstocks. No offense, Dad), which is pretty awesome because I'll be spending almost every minute of my next 3 months with these people and then some of them will be a big part of my support network for the full 2 years. We're all eating pizza in the lobby (fitting as this is our last American meal).

And! I've been so focused on all that's going on and absorbing information, I haven't had time to think about all these pesky emotions.

Tomorrow we're meeting in the lobby at 4:00am to get on the shuttles to head to NY. Flight leaves at 9:00am so it should be a lovely 4 hours in JFK. Then layover in Miami for 3 hours then Quito-bound. We'll be arriving in the capital at about 8:00pm. It'll be a long travel day but I can already feel phantom butterflies as we approach the city at night.

I may not be able to post for at least a few days. We're staying in the training center in Tumbaco for 3 days and then we'll be sent to live with our host families. I'll try to find internet access then and let you know how our "arrival retreat" went. I'll be wearing the same pants and not shaving for 3 days. So cute.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.

Chels