Hola, Quito

Hi.  Guess what?!?!?  I'm in Quito!  Everything went quite smoothly travel-wise, a fact that the airline flight attendants drove home at the end of each leg of my trip: Otro vuelo seguro y a tiempo con TACA! (Another safe and on-time flight with TACA Airlines!)  We landed in Quito just after 12 AM last night in dense rain and fog.  All my bags made it and customs and immigration were relatively painless.  All in all, I have A LOT to be grateful for.  THAT SAID, here are a few minor gripes.  

1. So far, upon seeing my white, white skin and red/blonde hair, people immediately commence speaking to me in English, despite my efforts to carry out our business in Spanish.  I'm hoping that this problem will go away as I move off the beaten path and out of tourist terrain.  
2. EVEN THOUGH I was on a flight from El Salvador to Peru (neither of which even HAVE a legal drinking age, for all intents and purposes), the flight attendant refused to serve me wine during the beverage service, as I am still (two months) under 21.  WHAAAT?  Not a big deal, but combined with point #1, I felt coddled and grumpy.
3. On my flight from Lima to Quito, the boy sitting behind me decided to kick my seat and mess around with the tray table straight through the last hour of the flight and for the thirty minutes we had to wait on the plane for our gate to open up.  This, combined with my head-splitting migraine and mounting nausea, had me about ready to snap.  Before things got ugly, though, the sweet little Brazilian girl sitting next to me started softly singing the Justin Timberlake classic "Where is the Love?" The red haze clouding my vision cleared.   Thank you Justin.  Thank you little Brazilian girl.  

I took a taxi from the airport to a hotel in downtown Quito and have pretty much been here since, sleeping, getting oriented, and taking advantage of the free wifi.  I will soon stroll over to FABC, which, unless Google Maps deceives me, is only a couple of blocks from my hotel!  Later this afternoon, my host family will pick me up and drive me to my home for the next 7 weeks in the earthy-sounding suburb of Cumbayá. 

I'll leave you with a picture taken from my hotel window.  Peeling back the curtains to snap this little honey was the most adventurous thing I've done yet!