Buenos Dias!  (I can't figure out how to do the Spanish symbols yet, sorry ( Read more... )

Well, I've made it!  I've also gotten approximately 6 hours of sleep in the past 3 days, so bear with me.

Right now I'm in my host family's apartment in Quito, about 8 or 10 blocks away from the universities I'll be attending.  We're in the north of the city, which is the more industrialized and wealthy part, whereas the south is mainly rural and ( Read more... )

The cost, thus far, of just applying to go abroad:

Ecuadorian Visa: $130
Mandatory, overnight, 2-way shipping of said visa: $40
Typhoid vaccine: $62
HIV test (they're afraid I'm gonna pull a Freddie Mercury): $15 co-pay
Hepatitis C shot: $70
Flu shot: $5
Request for police record: $25

And soon to be added:
Anti-malarial pills: Somewhere around $50
Yellow ( Read more... )