Things got off to a bumpy start- I couldn't check in at the airport, because my last name was spelled wrong on the reservation (which I did not make, since I DO know how to correctly spell my name). I had to wait In line for a gate agent, and the line took nearly an hour. I told the kids to go on without me (so stoic, I know) thru security, and then one comes back to me saying the TSA agent wouldn't let her through because her bag is too big. By an inch. By the time I finally explain my name situation with an agent, he says "well there's normally a fee to change it..." I convinced him that I did, indeed, know how to spell my name, and someone else had messed it up. I was very concerned about getting it right, because I don't want to deal with it all again when I leave Ecuador next week! In the end, everything got fixed, and then when I was in the scanning machine at security, some crazy person got in the machine with me 😳 That was fun. We all reconvened at the gate, and our departure had been pushed back by about 30 minutes, nbd. Dark clouds are rolling in. I glance at the screen and see the time is now delayed by 3+ hours!! When we did eventually take off, we were about 1.5 hours late, but finally on our way to Ecuador!
After getting everyone & everything (they did pack surprisingly light) through immigration and customs, we met another tour group and our tour director, got on the bus, and drove to the Hotel Real Audiencia. It was past 1 am by the time we settled into our rooms, and we had to be up by 8 today.
We spent today touring around Quito, looking at cathedrals, plazas, monuments and such. 
Then we boarded the bus to head about an hour out of central Quito to get to the equator. We stopped for lunch at a great empanada place- they were delicious & cheap, what more can you ask for?
Once at the Equatorial line, we spent some time taking pictures and doing some "games" showing the Coriolis effect in both hemispheres. 
Of course they had a sink out to demonstrate how the water spins clockwise in the north and counterclockwise in the south. Which btw is totally not true, because the Coriolis effect only acts on large things, like bodies of air or water (like an ocean basin). But whatever, many of the kids in my group know what the real deal is, so we all just took the explanation with a grain of salt. 
We are having an early night, because we leave Quito at 0645 tomorrow, to go back to the airport to fly to the GALÁPAGOS! We spend the next week there, going from island to island. There's so many things I want to see there!! I can't wait!!
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