A (Very Long) Breakdown, Pre-Arrival

Four days into my Lithuanian adventure, I'm beginning to get a feel for what this semester will look like and what my role is as a study abroad student. I've already learned a few Lithuanian words (a word that sounds like "achoo" means "thank you," labas is "hello," gerai means "ok," and kur tualetas is "where is the bathroom"), the cold is almost something I expect every time I walk outside, and I've finally made it to the dorm room where I will be living for the next four months.

It took me three days and four countries to get from Quito to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, last weekend. My travel time lasted this long because of delayed flights at every stop and a night spent in a Brussels hotel, where I was able to use some of my French (although not my favorite French phrase: Je suis une feuille de papier), eat a croque monsieur, and get used to being in Europe, a continent I have not visited since I was about four years old and a flower girl in my British uncle's wedding. Although the Brussels stop was fun, my favorite airport stint was spending a few hours on the runway in Guayaquil, Ecuador because one of my lovely Ecuadorian volcanoes, Tungurahua displayed some volcanic activity and we had to first reroute and then refuel the plane. Only in Ecuador...