Hello everyone!

I´m now in S AMerica so i guess my adventure has started!!

I arrived at 9am on sunday morning after flying for about 24 hours! My flights went from Heathrow - Amsterdam - Bonnaire - Guaygil - Quito, so in total i took off and landed 4 times and my baggage made it all the way with me.

The landing in Quito was a bit scary. There is a v short runway and the planes come in over the top of the Andes right over the city at a pretty steep angle. Apparently pilots need special training to land here.

Having survived the flights my host family picked me up at the airport. I am staying with Blanca and Mario, and their son Mario. They are really friendly but communication is a little difficult given that i can´t speak Spanish. We´ve had a lot of funny ´conversations´with the assistance of acting. It can feel like a giant game of charades!

I have my own room with my own bathroom! So pretty luxurious. Although nowhere has any heating so I´m continually cold.

For this week i´m going to spanish school each morning. Everyone there is travelling alone so it is really easy to make friends. I´m in a class with 2 other girls from 8.30 am to 1pm each day.

On monday the school took us on an orientation around the colonial part of the city. There are A LOT of churches! We went to one called El Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus which was covered in gold inside. I think they said there is about 57kg of gold in total - really stunning! The church is seriously Catholic. The is a massive painting of hell with lots of people being punished in horrible ways.. all labelled to say which sin attracts which punishment - scary stuff!

Quito is surrounded by the Andes, but most of the time since i have been here they have been under cloud. The city is pretty cold and it rains every afternoon.. I think i need more jumpers! Quito is a lot more developed than i thought it would be although there are a lot a poor people. There is every take away you can imagine, massive supermarkets and posh shopping centres. Also the transport is really efficient, although a little crazy! On the bus you have to hold on really tight due to the mad driving, try and hold on to your bags so nothing gets stolen and fight to get out (i mean really fight, pushing old ladys and women with babies is necessary, being polite does not get you anywhere!). It is not really safe to carry a camera around so don´t expect many pics of Quito!

This afternoon i went to collect my ticket to the Galapagos and to go through an orientation. I´m flying at 9am on sunday and can´t wait!

Before then i have school and a couple of trips planned. Tomorrow I´m going to some hot springs (where my feet may be warm for the first time!), and on saturday I´m going to Cotopaxi national park in the Avenue of Volcanoes where i´ll see a glacier and a lagoon. This tour goes up to a height of 4800m and we´ll be trekking so breathing might me tricky!

Adios for now, hasta pronto.

p.s. write me some messages if you can.... it makes me happy to hear from you all!!!!