first days in quito

hello all,
its ten days past my arrival in Quito, but i will do my best to recall my first impressions here. I must begin by telling about my departure from Miami: my two best friends drove me to the airport and wished me goodbye with tears and hugs at the security line. It took effort to keep from gushing tears, but I allowed a few to fall as I boarded the plane. I actually looked back, at what i don´t know, in the breeze-way leading to the plane. it was a gut reaction- the oh my god, this is real, and i am very alone!
I sat in the company of a bunch of Evangelical missionaries on my way to Quito, grimacing at their happy-go-lucky attitude about traveling to another country. I felt somber and wanted peace and quiete to take it all in, but I wasn´t spared. Luckily, I had a window seat and I concentrated on looking at the great blue water below, thinking, Cuba is somewhere down there, and that, really, its not all that far in hours from home to Ecuador. At the same time, i felt the sensation of my bellingham umbelical cord being stretched as the view of water went on and on.
I arrived at night, and the lights of the city are patterned in oblongs and swirls more than in a grid form, which you expect. i thought, this place is huge, what have i got myself into? I felt the altitude difference right away; i had no option of being hasty. I had to walk slowly, my ears feeling pressure, my feet floating. And there was my teacher with my name on a sign and felt reassured and liked her right away.
She had hired a friend to taxi us to her home and when we arrived i met her mother, father, nephew who stays with her part-time and yes, another Anna from London. what a good sign of luck is that! I ate some food and drank tea, trying to stay lucid and answer questions in my simple spanish and explain what the ALG was to the other Anna. my senses were overwhelmed and i just wanted to go to bed. it was even effort to understand english that first night. when i went to bed, i couldn´t believe how loud the traffic noise was from inside the house. how do people carry on their normal lives? i wondered. it can be so loud that you have to talk louder to be heard at the dinner table. Of course, now, i am adjusted and can sleep fairly well through the night.
I was told that night that my teacher could not provide language lessons for a couple of weeks so did i want to attend language school down the street with the other anna. of course, i agreed. I wanted to get busy right away and not have time to get overwhelmed. the following day i began, after having one day to sleep in.
School is excellenct since each student gets a teacher to themselves and you have the opportunity to practice speaking and reviewing grammar. In this short time I feel that my speaking has improved rapidly.
After that first lesson the other Anna and I explored a public market for a few items and took in the city. In some places the steets and sidewalks are in disrepair and you have to watch where you are going- randomly, there will be a whole filled with stagnant water, big enough for a child to fall into that just shows up in the middle of the side walk. Its just one more thing to watch out for besides motorcycles on the sidewalk, whizzing buses and that sometimes the lines in the road mean nothing to drivers.
That first walk down a broken street brought on all the unknowns to mind and the sense of vulnerability: