I am HERE!

So I have finally arrived in the beautiful country of Ecuador. It was a long flight down here. We had to be at the airport at 330 AM on December 31st and we did not stop traveling until 1130 that night! So needless to say we were all exhausted. We stayed in Quito for a night before traveling on to Cuenca. We stayed in the OSSO house with the volunteers and project directors. It was fun. As it was New Years we participated in an Ecuadorian tradition, at midnight we lit a body on fire in the middle of the road and jumped over it. It was... interesting. People were doing it up and down our street and there were fireworks going off and music blaring everywhere. New Years is a big holiday for them down here.
The next day we woke up and drove to the airport (They drive INSANE here, but I like it) and flew to Cuenca. It was SO pretty. The birds eye view of the mountains and clouds was amazing. As we were flying we even saw a smoking volcano. When we arrived at the airport in Cuenca the Roseros (Rodrigo and Lorena, they are our project directors here and our parents) were there to meet us and take us home. Lorena ran up and gave us all a hug and kiss on the cheek to welcome us. She is so cute. Rodrigo grabbed my HUGE yellow suitcase from me when he saw I was struggling and took it to the van for me. I was so grateful because I was getting a blister on my hand from carrying the giant monster of a suitcase around. I love them.
When we got home to our OSSO house we were given a tour of our house(It is pretty large and in charge) and had orientation. YES parents they gave me pepper spray to carry around just in case. After orientation we walked around the city to get acquainted with it and the people there. We stopped to get ice cream which was delicious, but I could not even order my own as I cant speak spanish yet. When we were ready to go home we took a couple of taxis and somehow I got stuck in the front seat. The driver kept asking me where to go and all I could do was look pleadingly back at Megan and beg her to help me. She is fabulous at speaking spanish. The taxi driver continued to talk and laugh and I assume he was laughing at me because I heard Gringo amongst all the other noises coming from his mouth. A slap in the face that I need to get on my spanish immediately.
The next couple of days are me working at the orphanage which I will write about later because I have to go! Oh. And pictures are coming!