This post is part of a series called 2016 Ecuador Earthquake Journals PORTOVIEJO, Ecuador–I awake to pounding on the thin wooden door of my jungle hotel room. It’s 7:02 a.m. As I groggily open the door, I’m met by a slender woman in a gray dress standing outside. Her hair is wet. “The mayor is waiting for you. You have to see him at 8 o’clock,” she says, in a mix of English and Spanish. “Levántate!” calls out my roommate, Juan. We had no prior contact with the mayor of Portoviejo, one of the worst damaged cities in Ecuador, but…

This post is part of a series called 2016 Ecuador Earthquake Journals QUITO, Ecuador–It’s 11:12 a.m., as we fly into the capital of Ecuador, the high mountain scene opens up below. Wispy clouds drift over patches of vivid green fields. My eyes are tired from the 10-hours “red eye” flight from San Francisco, but the beauty of the Cordillera de los Andes mountains is undeniable. They remind me of ragged mountain ranges that I’ve seen many times before. This is earthquake country. We step into a new, modern airport; clean but not too busy. The people look Spanish with Inca…