This isn't going to be a long entry, as it is still rather difficult to type now, but I figured that I should update after what happened.
A little over a week ago, a friend and I were attacked in a park in Ambato.
This isn't one of those "girl was walking through a deserted street at 3 am drunk and got assaulted" deals. We did nothing wrong. It was the middle of the afternoon on a sunny day, in a park filled with soccer players, families, and laughing children. My friend Julie (another PC volunteer) and I were walking back to her house on an "ecological trail" that follows the river. A young family, with a well-dressed dad, mom, and infant, had passed us several times that day, but we thought that they were just strolling aimlessly like we were. The moment we began to think it was strange and no one else was around, he whipped a knife out.
He grabbed Julie's arm. She screamed and dropped into a crouch because she was afraid that he was aiming his knife at her neck. I lunged at him and he turned on me; when I tried to knock the knife out of his hand he swiped at me and cut my thumb and index finger, then cut the strap of Julie's bag and ran with it.
Luckily, there was nothing of value in the bag except her house keys (she promptly changed the locks), and it gives me a grim satisfaction to know that he went through all of that for a broken bag, lipstick, unusable keys, and hand sanitizer.
I was bleeding to a degree that was frightening. I've never in my life seen so much blood. It pooled in my cupped hands and ended up on my face, all down my pants, and saturated my sneakers to a degree that even my socks were bloody. Some kind hearted lady helped us get to the hospital and gave me an old shirt to staunch the bleeding; it became soaked through with blood. I also bled all over the emergency room floor. I can't imagine the amount you must pour out if you get stabbed someplace serious.
The cut on my thumb is the worst, a deep diagonal gash that took eight stitched to close. The other isn't as bad, only four stitches and it barely hurt at all. The doctor claimed there was no nerve damage, but I still can't feel the tip of my thumb, so....
I go back to Quito tomorrow to get my stitches removed, and I also get to go the following week to talk to the new group of trainees. Poor Julie is jumping at her own shadow and hates the sight of families with children. I'm mainly pissed that I didn't think clearly while fighting (punching instead of kicking, so stupid of me!)
I've already written more than I thought I would, and it sucks to type without a thumb. It just sucks in general. Everything about this month so far, with its drama and huge annoying festivals and lack of work and water balloons (Carnaval) and drunks and too many parades and irritating bottle rocket/fireworks just sucks.
I can't wait for March.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A Year in the House of Sarah
A little late, but here it is:
2009: A Year in Review
January:
-Started the year in Baltimore, watching the fireworks with Gill and her (then-boyfriend, now husband) Ken, freezing our butts off, praying for good things.
-The inauguration of President Obama.
February:
-Road tripped to Pittsburgh and Penn State, for a final farewell of friends and fun.
-Left for Peace Corps, Ecuador. Arrived in Quito one warm rainy night, then journeyed on to Cayambe to begin training.
-Went to Mitad del Mundo, the center of the earth, and stood with one foot in each hemisphere
March:
-My first stomach flu of Ecuador….the first of many.
- Learned to wash my clothes on a big stone, went to Cotacachi, went on big hikes, saw an indigenous sun celebration and was blessed by a shaman, ate guinea pig for the first time, had long days of classes
- Found out my site placement was La Victoria, Tungurahua
April:
-Went on my site visit, and came away from it scared and upset and dreading the future.
-Went on the Tech Trip, which included lounging in a pool and playing soccer and doing yoga in the steaming heat of Puerto Quito, and staring at the stars, buying chocolate, and doing karaoke in Salinas de Guaranda. One of the best weeks of my life.
-Finished my classes.
-Swore in in Quito on April 30, and became an official Peace Corps Volunteer.
May:
-Moved to my site, and had to sit on my hands for three weeks because my house in LV was not finished.
-Finally moved into my house in LV.
-Started planning many projects, many of which would never come to fruition. Ah, PC life.
June:
-23rd Birthday in Rio Bamba!
- It rained all month.
-Thus started summer depression.
July:
- Depressed and stuck in LV alone. It continued to rain. Not a great month.
August:
- Pretty depressed and without work and got sick in Tena… until…
- I got permission to move to Patate. I started looking for an apartment and found one that I absolutely love.
September:
- Moved to Patate
- Went to the grad school fair in Quito, which changed what I want to study and direction my life will take, and, completely coincidently, met Adam
-He followed me home and lived with me for the next month
-Began work with my new counterpart group, Aves y Conservacion, first trip to El Triunfo, and the rest is history.
- Reconnect in Rio Bamba
October:
- More work, good times with Adam
-The El Chaco trip, in which I got way too sick and missed whitewater rafting. Yeah, that sucked.
November:
- Thanksgiving at the embassy
December:
- Christmas, went home, and all of the wonderful times that came with it
-My sister got engaged
A few low points, but all in all, a pretty great year. Here’s to 2010: I can’t wait to see what you will bring me.
2009: A Year in Review
January:
-Started the year in Baltimore, watching the fireworks with Gill and her (then-boyfriend, now husband) Ken, freezing our butts off, praying for good things.
-The inauguration of President Obama.
February:
-Road tripped to Pittsburgh and Penn State, for a final farewell of friends and fun.
-Left for Peace Corps, Ecuador. Arrived in Quito one warm rainy night, then journeyed on to Cayambe to begin training.
-Went to Mitad del Mundo, the center of the earth, and stood with one foot in each hemisphere
March:
-My first stomach flu of Ecuador….the first of many.
- Learned to wash my clothes on a big stone, went to Cotacachi, went on big hikes, saw an indigenous sun celebration and was blessed by a shaman, ate guinea pig for the first time, had long days of classes
- Found out my site placement was La Victoria, Tungurahua
April:
-Went on my site visit, and came away from it scared and upset and dreading the future.
-Went on the Tech Trip, which included lounging in a pool and playing soccer and doing yoga in the steaming heat of Puerto Quito, and staring at the stars, buying chocolate, and doing karaoke in Salinas de Guaranda. One of the best weeks of my life.
-Finished my classes.
-Swore in in Quito on April 30, and became an official Peace Corps Volunteer.
May:
-Moved to my site, and had to sit on my hands for three weeks because my house in LV was not finished.
-Finally moved into my house in LV.
-Started planning many projects, many of which would never come to fruition. Ah, PC life.
June:
-23rd Birthday in Rio Bamba!
- It rained all month.
-Thus started summer depression.
July:
- Depressed and stuck in LV alone. It continued to rain. Not a great month.
August:
- Pretty depressed and without work and got sick in Tena… until…
- I got permission to move to Patate. I started looking for an apartment and found one that I absolutely love.
September:
- Moved to Patate
- Went to the grad school fair in Quito, which changed what I want to study and direction my life will take, and, completely coincidently, met Adam
-He followed me home and lived with me for the next month
-Began work with my new counterpart group, Aves y Conservacion, first trip to El Triunfo, and the rest is history.
- Reconnect in Rio Bamba
October:
- More work, good times with Adam
-The El Chaco trip, in which I got way too sick and missed whitewater rafting. Yeah, that sucked.
November:
- Thanksgiving at the embassy
December:
- Christmas, went home, and all of the wonderful times that came with it
-My sister got engaged
A few low points, but all in all, a pretty great year. Here’s to 2010: I can’t wait to see what you will bring me.
Friday, January 8, 2010
A New Year
I realize that I have lacking in writing in this journal, and for that matter, even in my own journal. I feel like my entries are few and far between and unable to accurately show a realistic portrayal of Ecuador, its people, and my life here.
Recently, though, there has been very little to write. The weeks before I went home were filled with the agony of waiting, and also the desperate rush to finish revising my book before I left (though now I realize that it needs MORE revising. I swear, I will never be done.) Then I returned, went to Guaranda for New Year's, and have spent the remaining days sick in bed and spending far too much time on the internet.
First off:
Christmas was wonderful, and honestly, soul-sustaining. I encourage every volunteer who has even a lukewarm relationship with their family to go home at least once. Sometimes your mind just needs a respite, to be surrounded by nostalgic things before it can keep going.
The big news is, of course, that my amazing, brilliant, wonderful, smart, witty , fantastic sister is engaged, and this is a wedding that I will definately be coming home for. It's tentatively next fall, so I have about another ten months to go, and I am just so happy for her that I could frolic.
I also saw friends, exchanged gifts (Zombie Christmas Carols, anyone?), and generally just basked in love. Oh, and I got a netbook, since my old computer was just about to die on me.
Going to Guaranda for New Year's was not what I had anticipated or planned, but was fun and cold and turned out to be an amazing cultural experience.
A cultural note: In Ecuador, the tradition for New Year's Eve, or Ano Viejo (literally, old year) is to build representations of all of the sins and problems and anger of the year and burn them at midnight. Also, there are transvestites. Lots of them. This is due to a tradition that men dress up as widows of the old year, asking for money, which eventually evolved into simply dressing up as flashy women and doing a little booty-shaking dance for a few cents. Kids also hold cars hostage by stretching a rope across city streets and refusing to lower it until a fee of five cents is paid (or in some cases, until the driver gets royally pissed off and yells at the kids.) It's pretty awesome to see Ecuadorians, usually so strict in their machismo and male/female roles, dress up in glitter and high heels and makeup and hot pants. They are fierce.
The picture displayed is one of my favorite images of the night: A well done, room-sized display of the Simpsons (representing capitalism/US influences/what?) with a masked, smoking transvestite standing randomly at its side.
We (my new friend Katie and I, since the others went to bed early) were literally the only gringos in the entire city, which meant that we were famous, getting our pictures taking by everyone with a camera and dancing around fires with drunk boys and their elderly moms. Still, just to be safe (because though the enviroment was fun it did combine fire, the pent-up rage due to counting all the bad things that happened that year, and massive amounts of alcohol) we were home by midnight, just in time to watch the fireworks from afar.
Oh, and by the way, if you are ever planning a trip to the Ecuadorian Sierra (mountains), the road from Ambato to Guaranda is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, with high paramos and grazing alpacas and huge, snow-capped peaks close enough to walk to.
In other news, I have found a martial arts "academy" that looks legit enough, though it doesn't have straight-up tae kwon do. It's apparently some mix of kickboxing, tae kwon do, jujitsu (throwing), and boxing, so it's...kinda of MMA? I'll have to see, but I'll definately be trying it out! I miss fighting. It gives me a sense of control and action, this feeling of being truly within my own skin, of power, that I lack in my day-to-day life. And hey, you can't beat ten bucks a month.
Things are going really well here, and will improve when I am feeling 100 percent and get my ass out of this apartment and start doing some real work. I'm anticipating that from here on out is when it all begins to take shape...God, I hope so. Once I slide back into my charlas, pick some more communties up, start my anti human trafficking work, maybe start writing some articles, and just, well, put myself out there, I'll feel more like a PC volunteer and less like a lazy ass. We'll see.
A happy and beautiful 2010 to all of you, everywhere.
Recently, though, there has been very little to write. The weeks before I went home were filled with the agony of waiting, and also the desperate rush to finish revising my book before I left (though now I realize that it needs MORE revising. I swear, I will never be done.) Then I returned, went to Guaranda for New Year's, and have spent the remaining days sick in bed and spending far too much time on the internet.
First off:
Christmas was wonderful, and honestly, soul-sustaining. I encourage every volunteer who has even a lukewarm relationship with their family to go home at least once. Sometimes your mind just needs a respite, to be surrounded by nostalgic things before it can keep going.
The big news is, of course, that my amazing, brilliant, wonderful, smart, witty , fantastic sister is engaged, and this is a wedding that I will definately be coming home for. It's tentatively next fall, so I have about another ten months to go, and I am just so happy for her that I could frolic.
I also saw friends, exchanged gifts (Zombie Christmas Carols, anyone?), and generally just basked in love. Oh, and I got a netbook, since my old computer was just about to die on me.
Going to Guaranda for New Year's was not what I had anticipated or planned, but was fun and cold and turned out to be an amazing cultural experience.
A cultural note: In Ecuador, the tradition for New Year's Eve, or Ano Viejo (literally, old year) is to build representations of all of the sins and problems and anger of the year and burn them at midnight. Also, there are transvestites. Lots of them. This is due to a tradition that men dress up as widows of the old year, asking for money, which eventually evolved into simply dressing up as flashy women and doing a little booty-shaking dance for a few cents. Kids also hold cars hostage by stretching a rope across city streets and refusing to lower it until a fee of five cents is paid (or in some cases, until the driver gets royally pissed off and yells at the kids.) It's pretty awesome to see Ecuadorians, usually so strict in their machismo and male/female roles, dress up in glitter and high heels and makeup and hot pants. They are fierce.
The picture displayed is one of my favorite images of the night: A well done, room-sized display of the Simpsons (representing capitalism/US influences/what?) with a masked, smoking transvestite standing randomly at its side.
We (my new friend Katie and I, since the others went to bed early) were literally the only gringos in the entire city, which meant that we were famous, getting our pictures taking by everyone with a camera and dancing around fires with drunk boys and their elderly moms. Still, just to be safe (because though the enviroment was fun it did combine fire, the pent-up rage due to counting all the bad things that happened that year, and massive amounts of alcohol) we were home by midnight, just in time to watch the fireworks from afar.
Oh, and by the way, if you are ever planning a trip to the Ecuadorian Sierra (mountains), the road from Ambato to Guaranda is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, with high paramos and grazing alpacas and huge, snow-capped peaks close enough to walk to.
In other news, I have found a martial arts "academy" that looks legit enough, though it doesn't have straight-up tae kwon do. It's apparently some mix of kickboxing, tae kwon do, jujitsu (throwing), and boxing, so it's...kinda of MMA? I'll have to see, but I'll definately be trying it out! I miss fighting. It gives me a sense of control and action, this feeling of being truly within my own skin, of power, that I lack in my day-to-day life. And hey, you can't beat ten bucks a month.
Things are going really well here, and will improve when I am feeling 100 percent and get my ass out of this apartment and start doing some real work. I'm anticipating that from here on out is when it all begins to take shape...God, I hope so. Once I slide back into my charlas, pick some more communties up, start my anti human trafficking work, maybe start writing some articles, and just, well, put myself out there, I'll feel more like a PC volunteer and less like a lazy ass. We'll see.
A happy and beautiful 2010 to all of you, everywhere.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving in Quito
Here is a quick entry to say that Thanksgiving this year was fantastic.
I went to the ambassador's house in Quito, ate a lavish meal with new friends, hung out with the ambassador and watched "Miracle on 34th street", went dancing, dawdled in a used bookstore, finally bought the end of Battlestar Galactica (and promptly watched it as soon as I got home), drank wine at a cafe and then ate spicy indian food. Everyone from the new PC group that I met were awesome, I felt comfortable and happy, and it really was a great couple of days.
Plus, it's now officially the Christmas season.
Two weeks!
PS: I also found out the reason that I've been getting sick so much lately is because I have amoebas, which is actually fantastic because I have a name to put to my problem and it is easily curable. Here's to (hopefully) the end of my stomach woes.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Nostagic thoughts
Now that I have internet in my apartment, I've been reading over all of my old livejournal entries from undergrad. It's a bit of nostagia, a bit of self torture: it makes me so, so homesick for Pittsburgh. Flying back to my apartment on my bicycle on a warm fall afternoon, stopping at the farmer's market on the way to browse the stalls for fresh produce and pie, giggling with Char over something completely random, sitting on that little grey couch in that place that felt like home for one brief year and feeling completely happy and at peace. That year still takes the place of the best year of my life, and I miss it with an ache that is almost tangible.
Not that I normally dwell on such things. I am very happy here, in Ecuador, in the Peace Corps. My work is going as well as can be expected, with the usual hiccups and people not showing up/cancelling charlas. There are electricity shortages so every day the power goes out for a few hours and I sit in the dark, surrounded by candles. The bunny continues to be cuddly and poops everywhere.
I just miss speaking my own language, having people in my life that I can really talk to, really be me, not this dumbed-down second-language version of me that everyone here sees. I miss the fact that Light Up Night is this weekend and I won't be there to see it, that my dad is going to make his traditional turkey neck soup on Thanksgiving and carve the turkey with the Thanksgiving bayonet and I won't be there to see it, that those sweet senior-year days are irrevocably lost to me now. I will never live in Pittsburgh again, never be so close to those people I care so much about again. Our culture is to move around, and our country is large enough to stretch our legs in. We scatter across the continent, across the world.
I guess all I want to say is: I miss you. All of you. I have a fantastic life here in Ecuador, I wake in the morning and thank God that I am here, in this place of eternal spring, but I miss you very deeply.
I chose a life that takes me far away, and I wouldn't change it for the world. But that doesn't mean that I can't look over my shoulder every once in a while.
Not that I normally dwell on such things. I am very happy here, in Ecuador, in the Peace Corps. My work is going as well as can be expected, with the usual hiccups and people not showing up/cancelling charlas. There are electricity shortages so every day the power goes out for a few hours and I sit in the dark, surrounded by candles. The bunny continues to be cuddly and poops everywhere.
I just miss speaking my own language, having people in my life that I can really talk to, really be me, not this dumbed-down second-language version of me that everyone here sees. I miss the fact that Light Up Night is this weekend and I won't be there to see it, that my dad is going to make his traditional turkey neck soup on Thanksgiving and carve the turkey with the Thanksgiving bayonet and I won't be there to see it, that those sweet senior-year days are irrevocably lost to me now. I will never live in Pittsburgh again, never be so close to those people I care so much about again. Our culture is to move around, and our country is large enough to stretch our legs in. We scatter across the continent, across the world.
I guess all I want to say is: I miss you. All of you. I have a fantastic life here in Ecuador, I wake in the morning and thank God that I am here, in this place of eternal spring, but I miss you very deeply.
I chose a life that takes me far away, and I wouldn't change it for the world. But that doesn't mean that I can't look over my shoulder every once in a while.
Hippity Hoppity
Written on Monday, November 9, 2009
I was brushing my teeth the other day, standing on my roof and squinting in the early morning light, when I looked down and saw…
A bunny.
On my roof.
Really, it has to be one of the oddest things that has ever happened to me. Out of the many things one would not expect to see on a roof, a bunny is very high up on the list. It was (is) fuzzy and white with big floppy ears and giant bunny feet. I’ve named him Ben. I suppose he has another name, but I haven’t asked. I don’t even know if he really is a he. (So far only one friend has gotten why I chose the name Ben. He said, and I quote: "Oh, that's just sick!")
He’s my landlord’s sons’ new pet. They don’t have anywhere to put him right now so they are keeping him on the roof. Which is fine by me, except when he poops.
Plus, he’s an odd bunny. I mean, I’m not an expert in bunny behavior, but I always assumed that they were a little like guinea pigs, always afraid and cowering in a corner somewhere. Not this bunny. This bunny is awesome. He hops around the roof, follows me around, sits in my lap, nibbles my toes, and inspects my rooms. He’s the damn friendliest bunny ever.
So Ben the Bunny is my new pseudo-pet, the way Tilney the Dog was my old pseudo-pet. And that’s about all I have in bunny news today.
In other news, which I won’t really get into because I’m still upset by it, I got sick in El Chaco and was unable to go whitewater rafting. Yeah, it sucked.
Plus, I’m sick now, and have been practically bed ridden for the past four days. Luckily, I had no plans, so was just able to sleep a lot, and drink many cups of tea and eat pudding for dinner.
What else is new? I have a lot of work planned for the upcoming weeks. Adam has left to venture into the jungle, which leaves me relieved and happy to be left alone for a while. All of my Christmas shopping is (finally) done. Over half of my novel is revised. I have friends in town who are actually my age. Things are going very, very well here.
Plus, bunnies make everything better.
5 weeks until I go home! 5 weeks! Gahhh! *flails* I’ve never been so excited for anything in my life.
I was brushing my teeth the other day, standing on my roof and squinting in the early morning light, when I looked down and saw…
A bunny.
On my roof.
Really, it has to be one of the oddest things that has ever happened to me. Out of the many things one would not expect to see on a roof, a bunny is very high up on the list. It was (is) fuzzy and white with big floppy ears and giant bunny feet. I’ve named him Ben. I suppose he has another name, but I haven’t asked. I don’t even know if he really is a he. (So far only one friend has gotten why I chose the name Ben. He said, and I quote: "Oh, that's just sick!")
He’s my landlord’s sons’ new pet. They don’t have anywhere to put him right now so they are keeping him on the roof. Which is fine by me, except when he poops.
Plus, he’s an odd bunny. I mean, I’m not an expert in bunny behavior, but I always assumed that they were a little like guinea pigs, always afraid and cowering in a corner somewhere. Not this bunny. This bunny is awesome. He hops around the roof, follows me around, sits in my lap, nibbles my toes, and inspects my rooms. He’s the damn friendliest bunny ever.
So Ben the Bunny is my new pseudo-pet, the way Tilney the Dog was my old pseudo-pet. And that’s about all I have in bunny news today.
In other news, which I won’t really get into because I’m still upset by it, I got sick in El Chaco and was unable to go whitewater rafting. Yeah, it sucked.
Plus, I’m sick now, and have been practically bed ridden for the past four days. Luckily, I had no plans, so was just able to sleep a lot, and drink many cups of tea and eat pudding for dinner.
What else is new? I have a lot of work planned for the upcoming weeks. Adam has left to venture into the jungle, which leaves me relieved and happy to be left alone for a while. All of my Christmas shopping is (finally) done. Over half of my novel is revised. I have friends in town who are actually my age. Things are going very, very well here.
Plus, bunnies make everything better.
5 weeks until I go home! 5 weeks! Gahhh! *flails* I’ve never been so excited for anything in my life.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Small Blessings
So the other day Adam and I walk out of the apartment, on our way to Ambato to wash alllll of my dirty laundry, and he stops, cocks his head, looks around, and asks: “Where’s my motorcycle?”
To which I very intelligently said: “Huh?”
“My motorcycle.”
“Are you sure you parked it here?”“Yes.”
“Well….shit.”
We both did long, sweeping evaluations of the street, as if it were going to magically pop up a few doors down from when it was parked. We would have panicked, but it was long gone, and seeing as how Adam hadn’t even locked it or anything, it seemed rather stupid to panic.
Actually, he took it rather well, besides a few scathing remarks about Ecuadorians. I was hurt, because my town is touted on being so safe, the people so nice, and I felt incredibly secure here, and that feeling was now ruined. Plus, I was sure, absolutely positive, that this wouldn’t have happened it he wasn’t a gringo. Shitty Ecuador, I thought. Stupid for me to believe that there would be any decency in this place, or that in the place I call my home people wouldn’t want to rob me blind.
A few days go by. Adam makes a few flyers, advertising a reward for the bike. I tell him, in nicer words, that he can do whatever he wants, but he is being stupid. Really stupid. The bike is long gone, probably sold for parts by now. Making flyers is stupid waste of time. In fact, the Ecuadorians will probably snicker at him behind his back for doing such a thing. Let it go.
He makes the flyers and pastes them around town.
Two days later, I get the call. Someone has the bike.
The story goes: This young guy was going to his work as an ayudante (driver’s helper) on the buses at about 5 am last Monday when he saw a motorcycle in the middle of a back street, bent up and with the shit kicked out of it, but still functioning, only a few things broken. Never one to miss an opportunity, he loads it into the back of a truck and takes it home. A few days later, he spots the flyers and gives me a call. I go and see it: he’s telling the truth. There, in all of its banged up glory, is Adam’s motorcycle.
Well, holy shit.
I’m just…awestruck. Blown away. This is incredible. That anyone, but especially a young man with a crappy job and a wife and kid in this country where it is so, so easy to take a bike to a shop and strip it for parts, no questions asked, would return a motorcycle is unbelievable. Now of course there’s the odd chance that he took it hoping there would be a reward, but that’s kind of silly. Most people wouldn’t have put up a flyer. And honestly, if he was going to be dishonest, he could have made a lot more money stripping it for parts than the reward we’re giving him, which is $200. Adam guestimates that he could have made at least $400 by selling. So this young guy just took a $200 pay cut to do the right thing.
Faith in Humanity = restored.
This whole story just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
In other news, I’m going whitewater rafting with other PC volunteers this Halloween, costume include. (I’m a pirate....arrrrr). I’ve been spending a lot of time in my hammock; during the day it’s a great nap or book revision spot, as long as I have lots of sunblock, and at night there is enough light to read by, so I can snuggle in a blanket with a pillow and a good book.
I am so incredibly content right now, doing my work and having plenty of time to myself as well. My first charlas went fantastically and I have more scheduled for the upcoming weeks. And Christmas….don’t get me started! I’m so excited I can’t even express it. Seven weeks!
To which I very intelligently said: “Huh?”
“My motorcycle.”
“Are you sure you parked it here?”“Yes.”
“Well….shit.”
We both did long, sweeping evaluations of the street, as if it were going to magically pop up a few doors down from when it was parked. We would have panicked, but it was long gone, and seeing as how Adam hadn’t even locked it or anything, it seemed rather stupid to panic.
Actually, he took it rather well, besides a few scathing remarks about Ecuadorians. I was hurt, because my town is touted on being so safe, the people so nice, and I felt incredibly secure here, and that feeling was now ruined. Plus, I was sure, absolutely positive, that this wouldn’t have happened it he wasn’t a gringo. Shitty Ecuador, I thought. Stupid for me to believe that there would be any decency in this place, or that in the place I call my home people wouldn’t want to rob me blind.
A few days go by. Adam makes a few flyers, advertising a reward for the bike. I tell him, in nicer words, that he can do whatever he wants, but he is being stupid. Really stupid. The bike is long gone, probably sold for parts by now. Making flyers is stupid waste of time. In fact, the Ecuadorians will probably snicker at him behind his back for doing such a thing. Let it go.
He makes the flyers and pastes them around town.
Two days later, I get the call. Someone has the bike.
The story goes: This young guy was going to his work as an ayudante (driver’s helper) on the buses at about 5 am last Monday when he saw a motorcycle in the middle of a back street, bent up and with the shit kicked out of it, but still functioning, only a few things broken. Never one to miss an opportunity, he loads it into the back of a truck and takes it home. A few days later, he spots the flyers and gives me a call. I go and see it: he’s telling the truth. There, in all of its banged up glory, is Adam’s motorcycle.
Well, holy shit.
I’m just…awestruck. Blown away. This is incredible. That anyone, but especially a young man with a crappy job and a wife and kid in this country where it is so, so easy to take a bike to a shop and strip it for parts, no questions asked, would return a motorcycle is unbelievable. Now of course there’s the odd chance that he took it hoping there would be a reward, but that’s kind of silly. Most people wouldn’t have put up a flyer. And honestly, if he was going to be dishonest, he could have made a lot more money stripping it for parts than the reward we’re giving him, which is $200. Adam guestimates that he could have made at least $400 by selling. So this young guy just took a $200 pay cut to do the right thing.
Faith in Humanity = restored.
This whole story just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
In other news, I’m going whitewater rafting with other PC volunteers this Halloween, costume include. (I’m a pirate....arrrrr). I’ve been spending a lot of time in my hammock; during the day it’s a great nap or book revision spot, as long as I have lots of sunblock, and at night there is enough light to read by, so I can snuggle in a blanket with a pillow and a good book.
I am so incredibly content right now, doing my work and having plenty of time to myself as well. My first charlas went fantastically and I have more scheduled for the upcoming weeks. And Christmas….don’t get me started! I’m so excited I can’t even express it. Seven weeks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
