quito-isms vol. 2

Quito is a very long and narrow city, as it is surrounded on both sides by the Andes. Therefore, entering or exiting Quito by plane is suddenly a bit more complicated. There is only a certain area of open sky away from the mountains in which the planes can make the ascent/descent. So, planes tend to fly pretty low here in the city. We live on the eighth (in the US, ninth) floor of our apartment high rise, so when the planes fly in, we have a pretty good view. They are also fairly loud, so I am adjusting to hearing planes at night (as well as the barking dogs and car alarms, but that's another story.) Being a post 9/11 American, I had that first second of fear whenever a plane was passing over during the whole first week, but now it just seems normal. Just another part of daily life here in Quito!

side note: maps of Quito always orient the west at the top of the map, the north to the right, and so on and so forth.