Day 1

August, 4, 2014

I always think that future me is going to be able to handle so much more than I think I can handle now.  That's why I always seem to set up future me with things that I assume she will be able to handle with grace and poise.  This trip was no different.  When I booked the trip back in February I had a vision of future me setting off for the amazon with an already full backpack of life skills that ensured my sanity and confidence.

Well last night I broke out in hives due to how much anxiety I was going through over this trip and to say the least I am the same girl who booked this trip back in February.  I have the same skill set.  I have the same thought process.  I am no wiser, no more graceful, no more confident in my abilities.  I am scared senseless over this trip and that's okay.

It's 5:30 am.  My dad knocks on my door to wake me up.  I wake up almost instantly.  I don't think I was ever really sleeping. Just in a really relaxed part of my conscience.  Because no matter how "asleep" I was last night I always had the fact that I was leaving for Ecuador the next day in the back of my mind.

I get dressed into the outfit that I have had layed out for the last week.  I put the new pair of bobs on that I bought for this trip because I have absolutely destroyed every other pair of flat comfortable shoes that I own.  I brush my teeth and run my fingers through my straightened hair.  By tomorrow my hair will be a brown mess of curls, and for the next two weeks I will miss my straightener.

I bring my green hiking backpack and my blue day backpack to the truck.  I go to my lemonade stand (long story) and get a cup of ice water because oh man do I love ice and oh man am I going to miss it.

Then I say goodbye to my dad and he gives me a stack of papers that's about five inches thick on my travel insurance, and the gps cordinants to the nearest hospital, and my flight itinerary, and a 20 step set of directions on how to check into your flight.

I then say goodbye to my room and head to the truck.  I wait for my mom for a few minutes and then we are off to the airport.

Once we get there we check my hiking backpack in and get my boarding pass.  I say a final goodbye to my mom and then go through security and go sit at my gate which is the only gate in the whole airport.

After about 5-10 minutes I check my boarding pass.  for some reason it says that my plane leaves at 10:30 instead of 7:30 and that's around the time that I realize I am 4 hours early.  I end up texting my mom to see if she is still at the airport.  Which thankfully she is.  And then I ask someone who looks like they work at the airport when the flight for Toronto leaves and they confirm 10:30 and then I go back through security and explain how I am 4 hours early and then I see my mom again and we go pick my dad up at the ford dealership where he is dropping his car off to get fixed and we all go for breakfast at Cora's.

After breakfast we drive to the airport for real this time and say our final goodbyes.  For some reason I am more nervous now than I was the first time.  I go through security again and sit at that gate again and everything feels real this time.

I board my first flight to Toronto which is about 2 hours long.

The plane lifts off the ground and I'm off on another insane adventure but something is wrong. It feels wrong sitting beside a stranger.  I shouldn't feel this way.  I'm off on another adventure I should feel over joyed, but instead I just feel lonely.  I want someone to not make me so alone.  I want someone to share this adventure with.  But maybe all I am supposed to have for right now is my passport and my backpack.  Maybe I have to learn how to be a little less lonely when I'm alone.

The plane lands in Toronto and I go to pick up my backpack.  I go through hallways following the "departures" signs.  I end up going up a flight of stairs and up another level in an elevator.  When
the doors open to the elevator a wall of screens for aircanada await me.  Now this is where things get interesting.  Because I am looking for avianca, and on top of that I am looking for a large group of teenagers with backpacks who are also flying with avianca to Ecuador.

I am looking around when I make eye contact with another girl accompanied by a backpack and a similar lost expression.  We ignore the obvious until I ask.  "are you on a me to we trip?"  Her face lights up as she responds "Yes, are you going to Ecuador?"  Now I am laughing a little "yeah, do you think they are the group?" I am talking about a pile of backpacks and a few kids accompanied by three adults in me to we shirts.  Before we could walk over to ask they ask us.  They ask if we are going to Peru, and sadly we had to say no.  However right about now Peru is sounding pretty good.

We walk around the check in desks looking for avianca.  After a while we end up back where we started.   We notice a girl in a me to we shirt now greeting people and directing them to sit in an area of chairs that has a lot of backpacks sprawled around it.  We go up to her and ask if this group is going to Ecuador.  And (thank heavens) it is.  We go and add our backpacks to the pile and sit on the last two rows of chairs that face each other.  For a while we both sit their awkwardly and then I introduce myself and we start a conversation.

Her name is Ivana.  She is 17 and from Vancouver.  This is her first me to we trip and she has been waiting in the airport for about 10 hours.

What I don't know about her yet is that her laugh is absolutely contagious and that her real smile is worth millions.  That she isn't a hugger but she can still make you feel loved.  That she can talk about any topic with ease and that no topic is really off limits to her.  She will make this trip a memory I won't forget, and she will be the first friend I make in the group.  But for now she is polite.

After a few minutes we are called into a circle by a guy named Esta. Esta is one of our two facilitators on the trip. He is hyper, has one of the best hair cuts I have ever seen, and knows literally every riddle and camp-like-game known to man.  After introducing ourselves and going over the trip rules we all go and get our boarding passes and check our bags in.

We then go to our gates and a few girls from the group and I go to a pita place.  But see this is no ordinary pita place, no no because that would be too simple.  Instead this pita place has iPads for menus and when you order on the menu your order goes straight to the kitchen and then in like 5 minutes they are bringing your order out.  It is absolutely ingenious and it actually made me appreciate the in-between laptop phone thing that and iPad is.  (no offence to iPad lovers I just have always found their size a bit awkward).

After lunch we get snacks and board our first flight which is 5 hours.  I sit next to Maddie for the flight.  Maddie has got to be one of the most amazing people I have met.  She is compassionate and empathetic.  She is such a strong soul and has taught me so much.  But for the first 5 hours that I knew Maddie I got to see the fun-loving hilarious side of her as we completely annoyed the lady sitting next to us.

After the first flight we had what seemed like 30 minutes in El Salvador and then we were off on our next flight.  I pretty much slept this entire flight which was only about 2 hours but still that was a good two hours.

At 12:55 we landed in Quito, Ecuador.  We met up with a few other people from our group who weren't traveling with us, and Katie our second group facilitator (yes another Katie, there were two other Katies on the trip so I became known at KZ in an attempt to make things a little less confusing).  We then continued on to a coach bus and had a 1 hour drive to the airport.  I sat next to Maddie again and slept for most of the drive.  Except for the moments where I woke up for 30 seconds to wake Maddie up point at something interesting outside the window say "look" and then fall back asleep.  I blame exhaustion.

When we  got to the hotel we got assigned rooms, roommates, and were informed of the time to get up, where breakfast was, and when we have to be ready to leave tomorrow.  Then we go to our rooms, I'm roomed with Ivana and a girl named Kinsey. And when we get to our room I pretty much fall straight into bed.

-Z