Leah’s Loop

After two years of flying to Tbilisi, Georgia, we are looking forward to the Quito flight. Flying to Tbilisi usually meant leaving in the middle of the night, traveling for over 24 hours, and then landing at an odd hour. So, you would miss two nights of sleep in a bed. The eight or nine hour time difference was difficult to overcome, especially with young children. I’m so looking forward to the flight to Quito. We fly from DC to Miami, and then straight to Quito. Our layover in Miami is only a couple of hours. So, we leave DC at 11:30 a.m. and we arrive Quito at 6:45 p.m. That is so reasonable!  Plus, no time change!

I have been busy packing for the trip. I don’t know what to expect, but I figure we can go with the flow. I’ll take some toys, some clothes for a variety of temperatures, some books for us all, and (of course) my pie baking materials.  I like to bake pies, but other than that I like to eat whatever is available. Makes life easier. I hear the food is fabulous in Quito, can’t wait to try it, and to learn some new recipes!

So, airplanes, here we come, as my daughter would say. Up, up, up.

We will be living in Quito for the next two years. Some facts about Quito:

1. It is the second highest capitol in Latin America at 2,850 meters.
2. Quito was founded by Qitumbe, son of the god Quitu, in honor of his father.
3. The weather is described as “eternal spring” meaning warm days and cool nights all year round.
4. The city was declared a World Heritage Site in 1978.
5. The Pichincha volcanoes frame the city from the West.
6. The city is full of world class colonial churches, the best of which is called La Compania.
7. A visitor can set one foot in each hemisphere at the equator in Mitad del Mundo.
8. Rainy season is from February to March and October through November.

I look forward to finding many sites to recommend as we spend our time in this city.

My family heads to Ecuador on July 8, 2008. We will live there for two years. We are very excited to explore the country, and of course the Galapagos Islands. While two years seems like a lot of time, we are very aware that it will pass by quickly. We hope to have many visitors, and we are trying to issue personal invitations to encourage our friends to travel to us. It is an easy flight from the U.S. and with no time change the travel should be relatively easy. Of course, there is the minor issue of the altitude in Quito, but I hope it won’t affect us, or our visitors, very much at all.

I have lived at Oakwood for eight months now, but we are finally leaving next week. I’m so sad. It has been a wonderful ride of playgroups, swimming, running, and meeting new friends. We will head to Ohio for two weeks of family time, and then we are off to Ecuador, or Ekador as my daughter calls it. We will miss our many new friends, Angela, Sondra and John; Fernanda; Debbie, Joanna and Micah; Laurie and Trent, and many, many others.