The team arrives in Quito to a warm welcome, and Nick temporarily loses his passport.

Applause fills the cabin after we safely land at the Quito airport. Because of the mountains surrounding the airport, the landing strip is shorter than most. After the exciting landing, Susie's padre picks us up and takes us back to Casa Welty. The Welty's are missionaries with the Christian Missionary Alliance, and have been stationed in Ecuador the last 35 years. Their house is owned by the mission, and has plenty of room for us to spread out and store our junk. Shortly after arrival, Nick misplaces his passport. Fortunately, it turns up in the seat of the car. Hopefully this is not a premonition of things to come, but we vow to follow behind Nick to pick up behind him.

-Tanner

Quito is at 9200', and we could feel the effects everytime we climbed the stairs to our rooms. The Welty's have been more than accommodating, and we will be greatly indebted to them by the end of this trip. By our impeccable planning, we arrived on three different flights, and the three separate trips to the airport did not detract from a warm family welcome by the Welty's. Once we had all gathered at the house (approximately 11pm), we sat around the table, sharing stories and family pictures. We hadn't realized that Susie had not been home since December of 2004-- adding much excitement to this trip.

As a preview for the days ahead- two cakes were sitting on the dining room cabinet. One congratulating Susie for her 27th birthday, and the other, a princess-fashioned cake with a Barbie doll, covered with confectioner's icing awaited the birthday celebrations scheduled for the following day. So as not to leave our sweet-teeth wanting for tonight, we each received a candy basket in our rooms with a personalized welcome note. Rest assured, we're in good hands.

-Anat