I made it! After a full 18 hours of travel, I arrived at my hostel in Quito late Friday night. Today I settle in with my host family and start two weeks of Spanish classes. The last time I was in a classroom setting was 2005, so it could be a shock to my system. Also, I really want to learn Spanish but I have to get over my conviction that I’m terrible at languages. Wish me luck!

Quito is high up in the Andes Mountains, 9,350 feet above sea level. I was just in Michigan, which is 800 feet above sea level. That’s a huge change, and I was worried about how altitude sickness would affect me, but luckily it’s just been headaches, which I get a lot of anyway. I took it easy on Saturday–well, I walked 3 miles to see the city, but then I drank a lot of water and napped. That seems to have helped a lot.

I wanted to give y’all a heads-up that an interview I did for a British podcast called Getting Better Acquainted will air on Wednesday. I talk about the first part of my trip, the ups and downs, and being a conscientious traveler. More details when I have ’em!

Finally, I left this:

We’ve had at least a foot of snow on the ground for over a month, and days so cold the schools close because kids waiting for their bus might get frostbite

for this:

The view from my window in the hostel in Quito.

Sorry not sorry, as the kids say.