A New Beginning.

 We have arrived.  After an 8 day journey from Portland to Miami, turning Maya over to the Ecuadorian vet who had flown over to meet her from Quito to personally put her on her doggie flight, a nearly 4 hour flight myself, a wait at the Department of Agriculture, where the vet's wife met Maya and negociated for her release (she had to go after all the chickens that had also arrived, we were told.   This is like our experience in L and D - you never want to be the one that gets to go "first".   Those with priority are those with the higher mortality rate.  Anyway, the vet and his wife assisted us to get Maya and her humongous crate to the doggie friendly hotel, and I was taken from the airport to the hotel by shuttle.  After several nights of mediocre hotels with limited service, it was a treat to be met by the porters, who did not allow me to lift a finger, and took all my heavy luggage up themselves, as well as Maya's big crate when it arrived.  The room was beautiful, the staff very attentive, and I had a lovely meal, with alcohol.  The server kept listing drink suggestions, until she got to beer/wine - and I nodded yes, yes - LIKE THAT!  We settled on a margarita.  I needed one.

The next morning, we took turns partaking of the amazing breakfast buffet (while the other watched Maya - kind of like when we had babies).  There were several tables of food, both Ecuadorian and American options.  Anything you could possibly want and then some.  Oh, and great coffee.

After this, the van arrived to take us to Manta, as we were unable to fly with Maya.  It took 7 and 1/2 hours, through the Andes mountains.  It was very beautiful, albiet winding for most of the way.  The road were well kept up.  Finally, at about 4 in the afternoon, we arrived, and I saw my new home in person for the first time.  This morning I woke up to the ocean.  It is magical.

The place is also largely unfurnished.  Brian had managed to procure a bed for us, and I had already sent sheets and towels, but we need almost everything else.  Much of the day was spent shopping, and there is a lot still to go.

I will write more as we settle in.  One post will be on what we have seen/experienced with poverty so far.  Mostly it is a lot less unsettling to me than what I was seeing in Portland before I left.  There is a lot of how things are handled here that fasinates me.  Another post will be on the negatives - that we know about.  I have written about the pros, but not really the cons.  We have researched the cons to the best of our ability, and so far nothing is surprising or unexpected, but I'm sure that will change.  Nonetheless, I want to provide a balanced perspective.


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