Day 1: Baltimore to Quito

We've been running this course now for quite a while now , and it is becoming less and less frequent that the students do something that we haven't seen before. 

We arranged to meet on campus in front of Mason Hall at 8:15 this morning for an 8:30 departure.  But we came up one short - a certain Russian-American student was missing.  As part of the application process, we ask for everyone's cellphone numbers, and so I dialed her up.

I wish that I had recorded that call because I got to hear what pure panic sounds like - I am sad that I can't share the experience with you.  Alas, she had slept through three alarms but had somehow been startled by my phone call.  We sent the two other minibuses off to the airport, and took the third bus to meet her at her apartment which is, thankfully, just off of campus.

She wasn't out when we arrived, so the bus driver double parked in front of a popular cafe called One World. One of the students asked me if he could get out of the bus for a moment, and I figured that he wanted to get something out of his luggage or stretch his legs or something...  When he tried the door to One World, I assumed that he might be popping in to get cash from the ATM inside.  A few minutes later I see him noshing on a sandwich... I guess he was hungry and there was no time to waste.  *sigh* Turns out that he has now had what I estimate to be five meals so far today... so I need to be ready to keep a steady stream of sustenance flowing in his general direction.

These minor issues provided some amusement to an otherwise uneventful and easy travel day.  Right now we are in the plane from Atlanta to Quito - internet in airplanes is a fabulous luxury indeed.  I have one more unusual student behavior to report, but that will have to wait until we land and I can upload the photographic evidence with a faster connection.

- Eric Fortune