elizabeth!

I arrived in Quito Saturday evening after a long trip made much nicer by a kind woman from Spain and her daughter who helped me get on the flight. They want you at JFK 3 hours ahead of time! Oops… But I arrived safely and was happy to meet Jorge Pachacama, the director of Fundacion Brass Band del Ecuador, and Jesse Neuman, my compadre de New York.

Here Jesse shows off our digs:

Some very nice relatives of Jorge and Patricia took us on a day trip south of Quito… through the busy and colorful city…

…and on to some smaller towns with amazing views! The mountains are huge (and we are starting at 9,000 feet!).

Actually, EVERYTHING is huge… including the papayas (second shelf from top)!

I woke up to find this in the shower… instruments are well cared-for here and very clean!

And when I arrived at the school (“El Brass”), I found that I had a new (if only temporary name)… “hot,” no?

After our first day of teaching (see more photos here), the father of one of our students, Don Ramon, took Jesse and me out for delicious hamburgers, made with his secret recipe! Yum…

…and his young son, Martin, entertained us with his headlamp and marbles and animal noises…

We are tired but excited! The students here are wonderful, and I’m looking forward to working with more and more of them. Until soon…