First Impressions

September 13, 2008
As I stepped off the plane, the airport workers welcomed me with "Buenas Noches" . I responded with "Buenas Noches" without even thinking and smiled brightly at being able to speak Spanish again. The anticipation ran high, we couldn't wait to see what Guayaquil was going to be like. From the plane as we landed and saw the cars all over the highways and the McDonalds, it looked like a nice big urban city. Not at all what I expected from a 3rd world country. We stood in line to show our passport and document our arrival, I spoke in Spanish with the official and it went well. We went through customs and then walked through the doors to walk past a long line of people waiting for family and friends. At the end of the line was a couple holding a paper with "BYU" typed across the top and then our names. I'm sure they could have picked us out without us even approaching them though. There we were, two American girls, poor Becky pulling her luggage with one arm in a sling and me with a big backpack on my back, my school bag on my front, and pulling 2 suitcases behind me, trying not to collapse under the weight of it all. Hermano y Hermana Morante welcomed us with hugs and immediately took over half of our luggage to make it more bearable. We stepped out the airport doors and were met with hot humid air. We might melt, as people have told us. We'll see what it's like in the day time. We then continued on to an old tiny red pick-up truck. Obispo Morante (he told us he is also Bishop), explained that he had called for help but his help canceled at the last moment so he borrowed his mother-in-law's truck and made due. Hermana Morante was a wonderful sport and crawled in the cab of the truck to sit with our luggage while Becky and I squished in the front seat. On our drive from the airport to our casa, which is only about 5 or 10 minutes away, he explained a lot of things to us. I followed the majority of it. He was quick to explain that the truck was his mother in law’s and pointed out the Virgin Mary sticker on the windshield. I couldn't locate a seatbelt and he told us not to worry about it. Even so, I couldn't help but notice the wide expanse of a glass windshield in front of my unsecured body, about to enter a South American roadway. I was praying that I wouldn't get thrown through the windshield once we entered traffic. The traffic didn't actually scare me that much, maybe because Spain scared the heck out of me and then I got used to it. Here, from the short ride to our house I noticed that lane markings are interpretive. People don't stay in them, they cut each other off, and sometimes drive right down the middle of the lines. They also have some weird intersections where it's apparent stop signs are more of a suggestion than the law because a car will honk as he approaches the intersection to warn other drivers he is coming through. As we drove it looked more like the South America I was expecting. Lots of palm trees, run down buildings, bars on all the windows and doors, old cars, and cats in the streets. One cat in particular was chasing something on the sidewalk that from my view in the truck looked like a cockroach. This made me very nervous and uneasy.
But, my fears were put aside as we arrived at our house. Obispo Morante explained that we are in the good part of town, and that it is a comfortable apartment and we should be very happy here. As he explained this, we passed a guard outside the complex with a large intimidating looking gun draped across his torso. I wish I knew what kind it was. I'll have to investigate online when I have time and internet access. We passed a hospital that Obispo Morante explained is for the poor, from what I understand, the poor can come and receive treatment without charge. Becky and I may visit that hospital sometime. Obispo Morante explained a bit about the work that we are going to be doing here and how there are two different categories of people here. Those that live in the mountains and those that live in the city. Apparently these two groups of people do not get along very well and there have been a lot of problems in the past bringing them together. Especially since 70% of the workshop participants in the past have bee non-members. He said the situation is improving but is still a work in progress. He also told a story about how recently a young man hit his car while he was in a movie on a Friday night. They called out his license plate number and he went outside and filled out all of the necessary paperwork, it was obviously the guy's fault for hitting a parked car. Well, apparently this young man was a nephew of the judge and by Monday, the judge had all of the paperwork changed and it was now legally Obispo Morante's fault. Oh my. Hello corruption.
Anyway, we get through a metal locked gate, up a narrow cement staircase, open another bolted gate that blocks the front door and then unlock 2 more bolts on the front door and are finally inside. I actually want to count how many locks we went through, it seemed like a lot. And many are seriously just metal bolts that you slide into the wall and I just don't see how anyone could get through all of the metal barriers on all of the doors and windows. I feel pretty secure. It probably helps being on the 2nd floor rather than ground level. Anyway, we walk inside and the apartment far exceeded my expectations. There is tile floor throughout, the entry way leads into the kitchen, and then the dining area and living room are on the right. There are 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a washing machine, and a patio for hanging clothes up to dry outside of the bedroom I chose. The furniture is really nice, it's decorated simply but very nicely, we have a table cloth, bedding, towels, and a TV in each bedroom. The Morantes were so kind and purchased food for us including orange juice, milk, yogurt, cheddar cheese ( I can't imagine how much that costs down here), bottled water, tuna, bread, jam, soup, macaroni and cheese, frozen lasagna and frozen chicken tenders, popcorn, as well as toilet paper, and laundry detergent. They even bought a tube of toothpaste and shampoo in case our luggage didn't all make it here so we would have a way to brush our teeth and wash our hair. It was so much more than we could have ever asked for.
Becky and I chose rooms, mine has a full sized mattress and a very cute sheet set with matching pillowcases. I say sheet set because there isn't a blanket in the house. Apparently it's so warm around here that they are not needed. We are blessed to have an AC unit in the wall of each room. We do not have an internet connection yet, but the option is there. We are going to look into it, because it would be very convenient to have in the house rather than just at the center. Oh, we also have a microwave and a blender! Honestly, this is nicer than the apartments at BYU and it's huge! We are excited to make friends at Institute and have them over.
Obispo Morante explained that this past Monday he still had not been able to find a place for us to live. But he made some phone calls asking for any information, and he found an apartment above a less active lady who has just recently began to return to church. Her son served a mission in Texas and currently attends BYU Hawaii. Apparently the apartment above her was used by BYU nursing students who were here over the Summer, one of which I'm pretty confident was my old roommate who I remember saying she was going to Ecuador with the nursing program. I'm going to ask her about it, it will be kind of funny if she did in fact live here. Well anyway the Morantes went and picked up 2 sister missionaries who are around our mothers' ages and are from Venezuela. They are very nice and are going to be coming by for us at 8:30 in the morning to walk us to church. Everyone was so welcoming. I followed the Spanish most of the time, but I am kind of slow to think of how to respond. It will come though, I'm determined to learn and practice.
Everyone left after a short visit to allow us to settle in and go to sleep. I opened my baggage and found that the top of my big bottle of body wash had somehow come completely off and leaked all out. It could have been a lot worse, luckily I had put a plastic bag over top so the soap only covered other bottles with a small puddle in the bottom of the suitcase. Somehow it missed my clothes and books. So I spent awhile spooning the soap back in with my finger, salvaging as much as I could. I then sorted out clothes to wear in the morning and then brushed my teeth and washed my face finally. After 15 hours of traveling I was very grateful to be able to do this. Johnny told us about 7 times not to drink the tap water because it will make us sick. I think that may be important. So we can wash with the water but never drink it. So, I washed my face in the sink and then used the water from my water bottle to brush my teeth. I'll have to remind myself over and over again for awhile, I keep almost forgetting and have to consciously keep from running my toothbrush under the faucet.
Well, my feet are swollen from traveling, I haven't slept in a bed since 2 a.m. this morning, 21 hours ago, and I have to be up in 7 hours so I'm gonna call it a night. I'm sure I'll have much more to say tomorrow after attending church and seeing part of the city in daylight. I am very excited to be here though, this is going to be a wonderful semester!