The banner across all the screens in the airport announced that the airport was closed because of weather. That didnt stop the Delta folks from checking us in, putting us through security, and letting us sit at the gate for hours. The fog was dense and the flight from Guayaquil that we were supposed to catch, tried to land but couldnt get clearance.
About 3:30 AM the gate crew made it official by canceling the flight, taking our names, and loading us in shuttles to spend the night. Apparently Delta told Swiss Hotel fifteen rooms were needed and the woman behind the desk was overwhelmed with just the first shuttle showing up, saying that we had to share rooms. That got a strong negative response from the group. There were at least 25 people at the gate and as far as I could tell, there were only about three couples, the rest of us traveling alone.
Im not sure why, but Clara, a woman who lives at the Swiss Hotel in a suite, told me I could share a room with her and then she would check into her suite, leaving me in the room by myself. Thats an act of kindness from a stranger I havent witnessed here in Ecuador.
The hotel desk personnel struggled to get this group rooms. We all made it clear we didnt want to share. When the guy behind the desk gave me my first key to a room, I clearly and specifically asked if it was a single room and he said, clearly and specifically yes. When I got to the room, there was already someone in it. Culturally, this act of telling people what they want to hear/lying is a problem. Over and over and over in Ecuador people have told me what they think I want to hear instead of the truth. Mentira is the word for lie and I thought it odd that was included in the vocabulary during my Spanish lessons. Maybe now I know why.
And then what happened?
My head hit the pillow shortly before sunrise. Slept until 10 or so and had lunch in the hotel restaurant on Delta. Then, the museo!