As more people had shown up last night, I had a roommate this morning. He wasn't actually a student - he was a tutor for the upcoming med rotations. I woke up before him and packed up my stuff before heading down for breakfast. It was similar to yesterday, except we actually had pancakes with maple syrup! Everyone was thrilled. Afterwards, I paid the hotel for my food (finally a place in Ecuador that accepts visa), then loaded on the bus. We still were a small enough group that most people sat alone - it was morning so many people took the opportunity to (try) to sleep. They blasted the music in the bus really loud though - i wanted to listen to my ipod and couldn't hear my music sometimes. It was fine though. We got to Quito in a 2 or 3 hours and stopped here for a few reasons. Some people had to go to the airport because when they arrived, their bags were lost. At the same time, we were picking up a bunch more people from other HLD programs. And with all these new arrivals, we finally had our intro meeting (only 9 or so days into it...). I was able to log all the fundraising money for the project and very soon, it will all go with our volunteer treasure to buy the last of the supplies for the project. And with the leftover money raised, we will fund surgeries here in Ecuador. Now that the bulk of the group arrived, there will be volunteers alternating shifts for the next month to get the project done. I go back to the site on the 16th for a few more days after doing my medical lessons. I'm glad that this isn't a project where the fundraising money goes to getting us down here - it's much more satisfying putting all of it to the houses and paying our own way down. Anyway, a lot of the new people that arrived were Vancouverites from my group - it was great to see them all again, as well as meet a bunch of new people. We had some time to kill after the meeting, so a few of us wandered the neighbourhood just outside the hotel. We didn't find much but it killed time. Finally, at around 5pm, all tasks had been completed, so we were able to leave. We made a detour for some ice cream on the way, but then we hit the road for Papallacta. The particular resort that we were staying at was a hot springs resort! As the bus was full, i talked with one of the new people along the way which made the bus ride enjoyable. When we arrived, it was already dark and most people were really cold. We were at even higher elevation here so a few were feeling it. Upon arrival, we went straight to dinner and i got a burger - hadn't had normal food for a bit. When we all crammed into the dining hall, all the guys made a realization - the girls now outnumbered us nearly 5 to 1. Not that we could complain, but it was pretty crazy. The rest of the night was spent in the springs. I was with the bulk of the group for the first bit, however after a little while, a group of us decided to go and meet some other girls that were in the same general area. They were Americans and Ecuadorians. Upon first arrival, we were offered some of their tradition ecuadorian weak liquor which was good. We all hung out with them and then with some others, finally packing it in at around 1:30am. It was a fun night, full of amusing stories and wrinkled fingers. I'm glad i had the energy tonight to stay up until the end.
Quito
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