Arrival in Quito, Ecuador - 09. September 2010

After four great weeks with my family in Germany and a short, one day stop in New York it was finally time to start "The big trip".  The first hurtle was the check-in. Since I don't have a return ticket, the Delta representative at the check-in counter wasn't sure if I was allowed on board. To enter a country with a tourist visa a return ticket is usually required. Luckily her computer told her that it's not necessary for Germans and let me check-in. The next step was getting the visa at immigration at the airport and clearing customs. Fortunately that was not problem. Since I prearranged the Spanish school and accommodation with a family, someone was supposed to pick me up. I thought that was great since it made it much easier to arrive at 10 pm in a country where I don't speak the language and don't know anyone and don't have to worry about taxi, hotel and so on. When I didn't see anyone with a sign showing my name at the arrival I wasn't so sure that it's a great idea anymore. After waiting for a while I asked someone from the transportation info. They called the guys for the language school and I was driven to the family's place. On the way there I just hoped that the driver wouldn't just drop my of at the address in the middle of the night and leave. We got there and noone answered the door or the phone. The driver was very nice and tried to call all the people that were on my list from the language school. After quite a while a car arrived. It was the family that drove to the airport to pick me up but were late. Guess, I should have waited a little longer... I was very happy that after a little confusion everything worked out (as it usually does). The Aguirre family that I will stay with for the next two weeks has a nice house, a German shepherd and seems to be very friendly. There is also another German staying with the family and it felt good to talk to someone who understands me. This afternoon I will have my first Spanish lesson and I'm looking forward to being able to communicate with the people here. But I guess that will take a while.