Quito

I have arrived and settled in Quito. My flight to Madrid was delayed which meant there was a moment of panic as I had to sprint to catch my connecting flight. I made it. Just. I was feeling pretty lucky as I walked onto the plane only to find that I had been given a seat at the front with extra legroom and that next to me was sat a very attractive latino woman. It was at this point that I wished the airline industry hadn´t banned smoking cigars on planes.

11 hours later and the plane landed in Quito. Before this trip I was worried about not being able to speak any Spanish but according to Valerie it is possible to get by with only two words ´Chica Bonita´. So thats that sorted then.

I arrived at the hostel to find it wasn´t quite what I expected. I have a double room to myself with ensuite and terrace with hammock.

At only 25 dollars a night its seems phenomenal value and I´m v v glad to not have to go straight into sharing dorms and toilets just yet…

Yesterday I went to the Equator to signal the start of the trip and to take the obligatory tacky óne foot either side of the line´pic

There wasn´t too much there to see really, apart from a line and the phallic monument although I did marvel at just how many people can make a living selling stuff to do with a painted line on the ground. There were hundreds of shops and stalls there. There was also an area devoted to the Galapagos Islands. The Ecuadorians seem to be really proud of Darwin and his evolutionary theory. They are also mostly Catholic. Now I´m not too up on my Catholocism but I did wonder how comfortably those two ideas sit side by side. I would have asked but my limited two word vocab wasn´t very helpful so when I got back to Quito I decided to take spanish lessons and had my first 2-hr lesson at the spanish learning centre over the road from the hostel. Aferwards a few of us went out into the delightful Colonial part of town for dinner. Most of the people there seem to be good fun and female so i´ve signed up for another week of lessons.

I remember an article I read in the Daily Mail the other day (it was the only paper at the airport) which said that the average 33 yr old in the UK has only 1 hr a day totally free to themselves after they have dealt with all their commitments (commuting, work etc). I feel very lucky to have 24. It is slightly daunting though to know what to do with it all. I´m thinking that I could either wander aimlessly from bar to bar for the next ten months or I could fire up the imagination and seize opportunities as they come. I expect it will be a bit of both. I´m looking forward to finding out!

So thats Day 1. You can be rest assured that I will NOT keep up this level of detail on a daily basis.