In which, we arrive
Well, we're here. It's been a long time coming and there were a few moments in there where we despaired of making it, but the Lord was amazingly gracious and we arrived with nary an issue.
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| Driving - their least favorite thing |
To make it easier, I'll start at the beginning. You're welcome.
We left Simpsonville on Tuesday morning around 11am. The plan was to drive down to the Ecuadorian Consulate in Atlanta, get the final certification for Jethro's paperwork, then head to a little house I had reserved for us via AirBnB to spend the night, before heading out the next evening.
It went mostly well - we had a little kerfuffle with the Consulate (that's going to get its very own post), but all in all, it went as planned. We arrived to the house around 3pm or so, and it was DEFINITELY on the wrong side of the tracks,but the house itself was nice and clean and we were able to relax.
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| Slightly worried about the upcoming trip |
We went out that evening with a friend of ours (Hi Mildred!) and had an awesome meal at BrickTop's followed by milkshakes at the Varsity. Pretty much a phenomenal evening. By the way, if you get the chance, have the deviled eggs at BrickTop's. TO.DIE.FOR.
Anyway, we pretty much crashed that evening, and the next day, we decided to rent a car to do our last minute driving around. We stopped by the Consulate (yes, again, and yes, still to come in its own post) and then ran by FedEx to get copies of our paperwork. By this time it was noonish, so we stopped for some food, then ran back to the house to load everything (and Jethro) up in the car and head to the airport. We dropped the car off at the rental return center, then hopped on the transport bus to the international terminal (which was a feat in and of itself, with that ginormous crate).
By this time, Jethro was confined to his crate, but he was doing pretty well. We could tell he was nervous, but he didn't seem to be overwhelmed so we were happy about that (mainly me).
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| Time to go! |
We got to the terminal and got all our stuff wheeled in and right up to the counter. The lady was very kind and the process was amazingly straightforward and SOOOOOO much less stressful than I ever imagined it would be. We filled out the paperwork for Jethro, paid his fee, got our bags checked and were headed towards the security check, all within 15 minutes. We stopped at the oversize baggage area for Jethro's crate to be checked, and then he was taken down to the holding area. It was as smooth as you could possibly imagine. I was worried while checking in at the airport because I've heard from others that the airlines can be veerrrrry picky about letting you on the plane with just a one-way ticket. Apparently this is to protect themselves from having to bring you back at their own cost, but we didn't have any issues.
We made it through security with absolutely no problems, found the same Blue Moon Brewing Company restaurant that we found last time, and sat down for a drink (or three). We went to our gate about 30 minutes before boarding, saw Jethro's crate on the tarmac, got on the plane, got confirmation from the co-pilot that Jethro had indeed been boarded, and we were off.
Truly, the Lord had his hand on us throughout the entire thing. Every step along the way, we've only dealt with kind and generous people. It's been absolutely mind-blowing to see everything work out so incredibly smoothly in the absolutely perfect manner.
Upon arriving in Quito, we went through Immigration without a hitch - 5 minutes, tops. Immediately after, Jethro was waiting for us in the oversized baggage area, where a kind young man told us that he had been a little anxious, but they had offered him water when they took him off the plane. We could tell (and smell) that he was nervous, but he didn't make a peep as we loaded him up on the carriers and wheeled him through Customs.
This is where I was the most nervous. All our bags went through the scanner and then we had to hand our paperwork for Jethro to a man standing behind a little plastic table. While we were loading the bags back onto the carriers, he walked over to me with the paperwork and said, 'Estas bien', handed me the papers, smiled and said, 'Welcome to Ecuador' I could've cried.
We left the Customs area and immediately found our ride - they stand there with a sign with your name on it, which is amazingly helpful when you're still in shock and can't process Spanish just yet. We got everything loaded up with some wonderful help from the airport personnel who basically walked us through the entire process, and we rolled into our hotel around 10pm (we're behind an hour here, so it was 11pm EST).
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| Our room on the end at QAS |
We stayed at Quito Airport Suites and if there's a better suited place for people with animals tired from a long flight, I don't know where it would be. There was a large open grassy area and little rooms around the edge. Ours was on the very end, which was nice since it meant we didn't have to worry about Jethro bothering anyone. The room was clean with a good-size bathroom as well as excellent Wi-Fi (always necessary for us gringoes who are way too attached to our electronics).
The lady who checked us in was very kind and spoke English which, again, was super helpful. Within 10 minutes we were settled in and basically ready to go to bed.
It was kind of a rough night because Jethro was still really anxious from the flight and the new area, so he paced and whined for a good portion of it. He would sleep for maybe an hour or two, then he'd get up and pace for a while. It was tough, but the next morning, I still felt refreshed. A shower made me feel even more human, and then Jethro and I went out in search of breakfast.
Having the big open area was such a blessing, because it let him run around and kind of work off his worry. He was still a little nervous, but overall, we could see him calming down.
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| Jethro enjoying the space at QAS |
After a great breakfast of eggs, toast, juice and coffee, we loaded up again to head to Ambato. I had contracted with Rodrigo Pilagonia from Quito Capital Rides to transport us from the hotel to our little casita in Ambato. He was very pleasant and spoke excellent English. He had a 10-passenger van, which made the luggage and crate a non-issue, and he was very kind about letting Jethro be out of his crate and just ride along as he normally would in a car. Rodrigo was an excellent driver and a wonderful person to talk to, and I highly recommend him. You can find him on Facebook in this group - Quito Transport and Rideshare. Just tell him John, Victoria and Jethro sent you :)
Now that we're here in Ambato, we are settling in and feeling more and more comfortable. The casita has a new garden out front, which will definitely be beautiful once it matures a little more. We reunited with Marco and Elena when we arrived, and we all went to lunch to catch up and talk about what we wanted to do going forward. We talked about finding a permanent place to rent and also about finding a program for John to join to start Spanish classes.
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| John and Jethro - status: LaLa Land |
Afterward, John and I absolutely crashed. We both napped for about 3 hours, woke up for a quick bite to eat from the panaderia around the corner, then went back to bed until 8am this morning.
For now, we're just settling in, but the next big thing is to find a permanent place to stay. Pray that the Lord would bring us to the right place - ideally we'd love to have 2 bedrooms and some green space for Jethro. We've got a little bit of time though, so we're not going to rush things.
After that, we'll be finding John a program where he can study Spanish. I'll be back to my regular proofreading schedule starting next week, so I'll have at least a few hours of busyness during the day.
For now though, this is where we're at and what we're doing. We'll be updating hopefully on a weekly basis to keep everyone back home abreast of all the local goings-on here in Ambato. In the meantime - hasta luego!
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| Jethro enjoying the new garden |
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