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Sh*t number 1 : Delays, delays, delays…

Alright, so I landed in Miami International Airport at 2:20PM (that is 20 minutes earlier than the planned time. My flight to Guayaquil is only leaving at 6:15PM (boarding at 5:45PM). I went out a bit, wandered in front of the Miami International Airport. When I went back in, passed customs and scans, I realized from looking at the departures screen that my flight was delayed… Departure at 7:15PM… Alright…

Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac…

6:30PM… My plane didn’t arrived yet… hum… Usually, planes have to arrive at least one hour before departure for a full check-up… My flight got delayed again to 7:45PM… Great…

Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac…

Oh no… Departure for 8:10PM… I finally get to board the plane at 8:15PM… but it didn’t take off for quite some time… Questions marks on all the faces… The pilot finally announced that the mechanics discovered a leak in the hydrolic system… What’s going on?!

Sh*t number 2 : Where are you Guayaquil?

We finally took off at 9:10PM (I was supposed to land in Guayaquil at 9:25PM, I guess that won’t happen…). I got to Guayaquil Simon Bolivar International Airport at 12:30AM, and by the time I passed customs and immigration and retrieved my luggage, it was 1:30AM. Where are the AIESECers that are supposed to be here?! I heard AIESEC Guayaquil are good with intern servicing… I ended up sleeping on the airport bench, which was pretty uncomfortable.

By 3:00AM, there were simply nobody left! Except a worker at the Ecuador Sweet (opened 24 hour), cleaning employees, and two security guards… I ended up chit chatting with one of them, Francisco, for quite a while. He’s about 40 years old and is very interested in Canada, asked me a lot of questions! While talking to him, I realized how Canadians are simply blessed… This was just the first of many things in Ecuador that made me felt that way. He was working 12 hour shifts, but he paid very little considering he’s part of the airport security. He dreams of working in Canada… but doesn’t speak either French, nor English. Most native have not sufficient money to even travel to Galapagos, which is part of Ecuador itself. There are so much tourists in Galapagos that prices are just out of reach for them. I’d say it’s out of my budget too! All inclusive cruises can go up to US$8000!!!

I finally called Gina, the outgoing LCP of AIESEC Ecuador, and she came to pick me up right away. I stayed one night at her house, before heading towards the conference venue, Hotel Orquidea Internacional.

Gina’s mom is so sweet, and cooks some very good food! While meeting so many new faces, I realized there are three questions that are fundamentals in first meeting with Ecuadorians : Do you have siblings? Do you have a boyfriend? What kind of music do you like? I got theses questions from about everybody I met!!!

I was really shocked that I could barely understand what the Ecuadorians say considering that I mostly understand everything that is said in my Fundamentos de la Mercadotecnia and Macroeconomia classes. Their expressions were totally new for me. It took me some time, but I start to get the hang of it and make myself at least understood.

Sh*t number 3 : Bye bye cellphone…

On day 3 of the conference, all the interns invited me to come have a little tour of Guayaquil. Considering that it was planning day and SWOT analisis day (which I can’t really help because I don’t know the reality of AIESEC Loja), I decided to go with them (and I won’t have any other time to do so).

We first went to la Bahia Mall (a market neighbouring the hotel). There are so much people there, so I was really holding onto my belongings (petty crimes/pick-pockets are known in the area)… After about 15 minutes… I realized I didn’t have a cellphone anymore!!! Yup, that’s how thing is… Luckily, my phone was turned off, so whoever took it has to enter a password to turn it on… I still made sure Rogers Canada froze my account! Fortunately, nothing else disappeared.

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