Oh man. I feel like there is no where else I should be but exactly where I am. I had no idea how much I would love this.
In case anyone was wondering, state of emergency, kind of not a big deal apparently. I talked to a few of the students who were here while it was all going down. I guess it didn´t really change day to day life at all and was over very quickly. However, it does seem like it would have been very interesting to be here during the storm. I say this because there are policia EVERYWHERE. There presence is felt all the time. They just hang out all over the place, on motorcycles, on corners, in marsical square last night in front of the bars and discotecas, I feel like every 20 cars passing by is a police car. On my walk to school every day I pass the same one who literally just stands outside this big house all day, pretty sure it´s a governmental building. Really, I just wonder how as an Ecuadorian that was to have them be angry and rioting one day and then back on the streets "protecting" you the next. interesting... but I guess Ecuador is DANGERCENTER. haha. My teacher and I just a great long convo about the violence and danger of Quito in Spanish. He said in the last three years it´s gotten way worse and that he thinks it´s more dangerous than Colombia. Told me like three different stories of someone getting shot, one of them was about his student and his laptop getting stolen. I was kind of thinking, Bro, slow your role with these terrifying stories, i´m about to be living here for another two months. But truly, if I don´t get stabbed or shot during a robbery I will for sure die crossing the street getting hit by one of the huge buses driving around. Sometimes there are policemen stopping traffic to help people cross when we start building up on the sidewalk. I have to cross these huge streets to get to school and I´m just always running and darting across. No worries though, friends and family, i am looking both ways like six times before I cross any street, even in residential neighborhoods. Oh, and people LOVE to lay on their horns here, or, these little light peppy honks to let a car know they are going to pass, or more commonly to let pedestrians know, that no, I am not stopping for you, do not try to cross in front of me. Lots of fun. I don´t ever feel scared or in danger, but apparently I should.
so on a lighter note, yesterday, dancing was the best! (However the first thing the taxi driver said as I got into the taxi was peligroso! cause I was alone and it was night.) Man I wish we had better places for dancing in Seattle. For those who know of my stupid weird strained muscle in my right quad, (which i was REALLY hoping i could rest and it would finally heal while I was here in Ecuador) well i danced so much that it was sore today. grrr. but so worth it. However as much as I love love love dancing I do not love being terrible at salsa dancing. I feel like I am trying to learn to late in life. I´d just rather watch these amazing naturals spinning all around. But I did give it my best... how many ninos can you turn down with the excuse, I don´t know how, when they all really want to teach you. Love those sexy Latin dancers.
off to a meal with the homestay, sopa for sure and who knows what else, something salty, they love their savory.
well as always hope everyone reading this is wonderful and well!
Murda.
Does seem like 2nd and 3rd world countries have worlds where both the sublime and the terrible are closer together than here. Glad to hear you are able to appreciate the wonderful parts and still be cautious about the risks.
ReplyDeleteLoving yer blog, Murda! But as a kindly old uncle of yours once said . . ."Muey peligroso!!" Don't get blase, and watch yer back, but continue to have the wonderful time you're having. Hope you get out in the country as you want to. Can't wait to hear what that's like.
ReplyDeleteYo quiero (and not just Taco Bell),
RRW
Mer...Hi! It's your Auntie M. I read all your entries today and they took me back to the wonderful trip I took to Central & So. America right after college in 1973. Visited Quito, but I remember more about Otavalo up in the mountains. You've probably heard about it by now...a magical village with Indians (native Ecuadorians?) who are incredibly entrepreneurial. Worth a visit!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're learning Spanish. Es una lengua muy utile. Yo creo que tu conocimiento de francais va (vaya?)a ayudarte porque la gramatica y los sustantivos masculinos y femininos son similares. Don't show that sentence to your teacher! I am hoping to spend a couple of weeks in Mexico this winter for some intensive Spanish study.
Anyway, your blog is delightful...so expressive, descriptive. I truly feel as though I am there attempting to dance the salsa (it looks easy but the hip sways and footwork don't come naturally to Gringos do they). Que tengas muchas ganas! Aren't the Latinos wonderful? too bad they've never quite figured out how to manage democracy.
Keep those posts coming. It's great for us back home. Back in the day (as Nico would say), I had to use snail mail and pick up letters from home at the Peace Corps offices. Of course, by the time they arrived, the letters were always a month old. This technology is the bomb (or whatever you say...). God bless & stay safe.
Thank you Uncle R and Auntie M!!
ReplyDeletegood advice on both fronts, yes cuidadoso is the name of the game here. And I am definitely not getting more brave the longer I am here, almost more and more cautious.
And Wow! Antie M, thank you for reminding me how lucky I am to be able to communicate with modern technology. I can´t imagine how isolated I would feel if I could only receive or send a letter or two every month. That is nuts!