The last two weeks were absolutely insane. Seriously. I sold the car back to the dealer and got a pretty good deal after some dramatics. I finished packing almost everything and was ready when my sister, Allison, and her boyfriend, Luke, came to Boston to help me move. We went to get the U-haul trailer and Luke was a champ driving that thing through the city. Allison was amazing about keeping me on track and organized. (I was a little off my game by the end!) And we made it to Rochester with everything we needed and put my stuff in storage at the scariest place I have ever seen. It looked like somewhere that guy from Silence of the Lambs would keep his future victims but it was cheap! The rest of the week was spent visiting with family, finishing last minute chores, and doing things I won’t be able to do in Quito. It was a whirlwind of a week and went too fast.

One thing I realized during that week was that I no longer have a home base in Boston! It freaked me out a little bit. No car. No apartment. No stuff. VERY WEIRD.

However, being in Quito is so much fun. Things are familiar so it’s not too overwhelming. Seeing Esteban after 6 months is SO great! I really missed him. We went to see his family last night and lots of things have changed around their house but they are still the same warm, wonderful people I left one year ago! My friends from Quito are writing to me and inviting me to see them and I can’t wait.

Thanks to Esteban, I have a FABULOUS apartment! I don’t know what I would have done without him. This apartment is the nicest place I have ever lived! It has a balcony! It has a washer and dryer! (I have to stop myself from doing random loads of laundry!) It is clean and bright and I love it. It’s furnished so it has almost everything like utensils, pots, placements, coffee pot, microwave…you name it, it’s here! …except for a stove. Yup, you read that correctly. There is no stove. But we are going to buy a little countertop oven so it’s no big deal. My only gripe is the art on the walls. We are going to buy frames for our printed pictures today. So that stuff can go into storage!

Esteban arranged for internet. He couldn’t be here when the guys came over to set it up so I was on my own. They were great guys and had no fear. They set their ladder up IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC so they could reach the wires necessary to turn it on. The beeping and yelling that this brought on was deafening and hilarious. It was also a bit hilarious when I could not figure out what my building’s guard was yelling into the apartment phone when they arrived. I kept pushing the wrong buttons so he left his desk and escorted them up to my apartment, grunted when I said thank you, then got more annoyed when I still didn’t understand what to do when they had to come and go twice more. Finally the guy connecting the internet showed me what to do. Nice guy – and brave too. (He just climbed a ladder into the street!)

And last, I went to see one of my friends from SECAP, my old workplace. She is in the hospital on bed rest waiting for her first baby to arrive. I got to meet her new husband too. So much fun! It was kind of like what happened when I left Boston for a year and pretty much everyone had a baby while I was gone!

So far, so good. 😄 More pictures of the apartment to follow. I want to hang up some nicer art and get everything put away before I show everyone the new place!