Travel Day - Thursday, June 24th

Travel day – Thursday, June 24th
I arrived to the San Francisco International Airport at 5:50 am – early, which is totally typical me. Laurne and Katerina were the next to arrive, then Fr. John, Maria, Laurie and Victorina came together, then Karl, Vivian, Kelsey and Katy (Karl and Kelsey didn’t travel with us, but brought Vivian and Katy to the airport to say “vaya con dios” to them). The McCreddin family was the next to arrive, then Alex and Anne. Anne was originally going to go on the trip with us, but because of her mother’s recent fall and surgery, she had to sent Alex on his own.

We stood in line to check in which took quite some time, Victorina’s bag exceeded the weight limit so she had to redistribute some of her stuff, Lauren helped and graciously volunteered to help pack some of her stuff in her bag. I think we didn’t even arrive to our gate until about 7:30 – which was fine because our flight didn’t leave until 8:35. We had time to buy breakfast, coffee, snacks, magazines, use the restrooms, etc. before boarding. Our flight to Atlanta took off on time. Some of the group switched seats with others so that all the teenagers could set together, and those who wanted aisle seats could have them.
Flying over the U.S., I was struck by the beauty of the scenery (I had a window seat). It was an exceptionally clear day, very few clouds, and especially the Rockies Mountains, the quilt like patch work of the fields and neighborhood etched out of forest, wooded areas and desert.

We landed in Atlanta on-time as well to concourse A. We had to find our way Concourse T – took a train/tram thing and walked a little ways. When we arrived to our gate, we were all hungry and a little tired. Everyone split up to find food, bathrooms, etc. We thought we had about an hour before the plane would begin boarding, but they began boarding really early. Lauren and Victorina were missing, I called Victorina to find out where they were - they had ordered food and headed back to the gate right away. Alex, Katerina and Chris had also taken a walk, they made it back to the gate in plenty of time as well.

The plane from Atlanta to Quito was much smaller, less leg room, more people, and children, several crying toddlers sitting in the rows behind the row that Fr. John, Maria and I were sharing. We all felt so back for the poor mother, but these children didn’t not stop crying/screaming for the entire 4.5 hour flight!
Flying over Panama was amazing – it was nighttime so I could see the east side and west side of the isthmas, where the country began and ended. It was very beautiful.
Upon arrival in Quito, the first thing I noticed was the pattern that the lights made on the outskirts of the city. There were rows of lights in block-type patterns, not clumps of lights as when flying over other cities. I tried to photograph this, but since it was dark, the lights couldn’t be seen. To me it seemed very unusual. When we got closer to landing, I saw a Tony Roma’s!

Upon arrival at the airport, at 11 pm, local time (which is 1am San Francisco time – and I’ve been awake since 4am this morning!) offboarding the plane went smoothly, although as soon as we were walking to Immigration, I began feeling the effects of the altitude. We are about 9000 ft above sea level, breathing is more labored and I was feeling out of breath. I am ok now, but definatley have to take it easy until my body acclimates to this altitude.
Going through immigration was a breeze, Customs was fine too – they just scanned all our bags. This wonderful man, a Porter, about 4ft tall, came over to me and asked me if I needed help with my luggage. I gratefully accepted the help and Steve thought I should tip him, which we did. Greta and Taylor (two volunteers from the Center) met us at the airport. Taylor is from Wisconsin and has been here since last August, Greta is from Hamburg, Germany. Vincenzo drove us to the WBC along with his wife, Laura. There were several men outside by the bus who helped load our luggage into the bus. Greta mentioned that they do this for groups and expect to be tipped. We all gave them a little money – a dollar or two. We all got loaded in and drove about 10 minutes to the Center, El Centro del Muchacho Trabajor. Driving through the city, everything was closed down for the night, metal doors were pulled shut, people were home in bed. To me, the neighborhood looked very much like the garment district in Downtown Los Angeles. We saw a Domino’s Pizza, KFC, and something that looked vaguely like an In-n-Out Burger, although it was called something different. We arrived to the Center, unloaded and got a brief orientation (with a more substantial orientation to follow tomorrow morning at 9:30 am). We got all our luggage out of the bus, into the Center. Took a brief tour of the kitchen and communal dining area. All the volunteers are free to fix their own breakfast in the morning, there’s fresh fruit, cereal and milk available. Then we were shown to our room. Here’s mine...

There is actually another twin bed behind where I was standing, and a restroom. More tomorrow.