The Most Terrifying Day of My Life

I do not know how much of it has been covered in US news, but in case you did not know, the world kind of went nuts down here in Quito yesterday in more than one way. Firstly, as you might have heard in the news but then, maybe not, as a result of some insanely heavy, constant rain yesterday, the Trebol (a crucial portion of Quito city streets, kind of a giant mixing bowl where everyone from Los Chillos and the South get into Quito and get back out) collapsed. As Lenore explained to us this morning, Quito is located between two mountain ranges and is thus very long but not very wide, being squeezed between the mountains. However, originally, before the city, there were gorges and valleys and crevasses here rather than a city. As a result, in order to build the city, those valleys and gorges were filled in, which is great for creating more space for constructing houses but not so great for facilitating the drainage of rainwater. Therefore, when it rains insanely hard, like it did yesterday, in addition to mudslides and landslides, we also can get the city apparently caving in beneath our feet since there is not really anywhere for the water to go. So, all over the news last night and today were rather dramatic photos and video footage of this giant gaping hole, over a 100 meters deep and 17 meters in diameter, where the Trebol used to be. Not only is it a huge hole, but as they showed on the news, it is getting even bigger (multiple shots of huge portions of road just giving way and collapsing into this growing sinkhole in the road). Quite spectacular, for sure.

So, in addition to the craziness that you may or may not have seen on the news, our incredible, amazing academic director Fabian was driving home yesterday afternoon and some idiot (well, just like pretty much every other person on the roadways of Ecuador) cut in front of him. He turned to try not to hit the guy, but, as another wonderful result of the rains we have been having, the road was slick so he swerved. And, to avoid hitting a bus full of schoolkids, Faba turned and crashed into a pole instead.

Luckily, he is okay (just some rather impressive cuts as a result of broken glass, including a rather handsome one on his head) and his car is not totaled, although it is pretty trashed. Needless to say, we were all very happy and relieved to see him this morning!

Lastly, yesterday around the time I updated this blog was just another normal day. However, pretty soon after I wrote, my day turned into hands down the worst I have had here and probably the most frightening of my life thus far.

So, I was standing in the pouring rain for a while waiting for a bus to go home yesterday afternoon and, out of desperation, I hailed one down I never had before because most buses go more or less the same route and I assumed this one would, too (it did not, but we´ll get to that later...). I got on, grateful to be out of the rain even though the bus was crammed full of people. But behold! Just my luck--a woman sitting in the frontmost seat near the door got up and left, allowing me to sit down and relax, which was awesome.

I had only been on the bus for about five minutes when all hell broke loose behind me. Now, there are all sort of racial tensions and undertones here and I do not know how much of a part they played it what occurred, but judging from some of the insults I heard been thrown around, it is a definite possibility.

I turned around at the sound of yelling and saw a thin, wiry Latino guy in a suit and tie arguing with a Afroecuatoreano guy, both gesturing wildly and getting more and more heated by the moment. I assumed that, as the bus was very crowded and slippery from the rain, they had probably simply jostled each other accidentally or something. People generally tried to ignore them and after a minute or so, the Latino guy stalked to the front of the bus as if to leave. However, just as he got right in front of me (in my wonderful front seat nearest the exit), he turned back around and renewed his screaming (involving a lot of insults that definitely involved "negro-"something) before suddenly pulling back his jacket and pulling a gun out of his pants.

At this point, pretty much everyone started freaking out. I wanted nothing more than to get out of the bus, but since the guy with the gun was about a foot from me, not to mention between me and the exit, I could only sit there, plastered against the window, absolutely terrified. The Latino guy yelled a few more moments, waving his gun around in my face, at the general crowd, and gestured wildly with it at the black guy. FINALLY, he put the gun back in his belt, turned, and leapt off the bus, throwing one last insult over his shoulder.

At this point, I kind of just burst uncontrollably into tears and cried quietly in my little corner of the bus. These two little kids, who were sitting across from me when it happened, just sort of looked around with huge, terrified eyes, and everyone else on the bus was deadly silent. I felt stupid for crying and as it was happening, I was thinking, "God, why am I crying?" But it truly was one of the most genuinely terrifying moments I have ever experienced. I had only seen a gun once before that in my life and it had been in the trustworthy hands of my father and uncles at my grandparents´farm, not in the hands of a raging hothead on a bus where I could not get out.

Once I recovered from my shock and pulled myself together, however, I realized I was, in fact, on perhaps the ONLY bus that does not go the typical route and thus was not going to pass anywhere near my house. SO I got back out into the pouring rain and had to walk back to where I knew I could catch the right bus, stood in the rain a while longer waiting for one, and FINALLY caught the right bus to get home.

ANYHOW, I am just happy that day is over. Now, on to the coast! I will not be able to update my blog for about a week, until next Thursday most likely, since I am going to be staying in an impoverished fishing community on the coast and, since they may not even have running water, I am guessing there probably is not an Internet cafe. :)

Until next week, ciao!

-Alex