Planes Land on Us

We listen to the plane land in our living room. Not really, but it sounds like it. The Quito airport is difficult to fly in and out of, being located between the mountains. It is also located right in the middle of the city and about the size of a few football fields. While watching episodes of Gilmore Girls, we sometimes brace ourselves for being joined by a 747.

We’ve started a fire a couple times in our wood burning stove. Normally, during the day the temperature rises to 70 degrees and at night cools down to 50. Lately, it has been very cloudy and rainy, even causing me to whip out my Northface jacket. Though the mid 50s sounds perfect to a New Englander suffering through the pangs of snowstorm after snowstorm, when there is no electric heat anywhere, the air temperature in the evenings here is probably comparable to a New England house. The glass slated windows are shy of shutting, creating the chilly aura of camping, and it takes hours for my feet to eventually defrost inside my covers.

The water in our shower is either freezing cold or burning hot. Sponge baths have now become my morning regime, mixing the freezing cold water with the burning hot in a pot and then using a cup to pour it on my head. Every morning I am reminded of my Uganda study abroad experience. I’d rather have consistency than have to jump around in the shower to avoid the boiling or icy water.

Quito is the second highest capital in the world, at about 9,000 ft. This causes me to blame most headaches, fatigue and insomnia on the altitude. Climbing the stairs to our third floor hotel room the other night made us all incredibly out of breath. We’re not out of shape or anything, it’s just that dang altitude…. Right?

Juice has been one of the highlights of Ecuador. Their juice is very much unlike the watery sugary liquid that the States has to offer. This fruit juice is thick and sweet with nectar straight from a mango, tree tomato, pineapple, or mora. Mora is similar to blackberries, but a little bit bigger. They also serve papaya, jackfruit, guanabana, papaya, and apple juice, to name a few others. When mixed with milk or yogurt it’s a batido. I also give the ice cream here high praise, being similar to Italian gelato.

Our milk and eggs don’t need a refrigerator. Apparently the milk doesn’t because it’s loaded with so many preservatives that it’s hardly milk anymore (according to Sharon, who owns cows in Alberta). As for eggs, supposedly if they’re not refrigerated to begin with, they don’t need to be refrigerated. Why did the US start refrigerating eggs? That’s a question I’m sure Google can answer.

The alarm for our guest house is continually beeping much like a cell phone or computer with a dead battery. I’m about to shoot it. Jen thinks I'm ridiculous. I've found that when it decides to beep at night, if I put a pillow over my head it blocks the sound.

Those are a few things about the everyday here. Planes don’t really land on us, but they almost do.