Headlights and Machine Guns

Last night after class, one of my students invited Kane and I to play squash with him and a couple of his peacecorps buddies. We jumped at the opportunity to get in a little late-night excercise and show off the squash skills that had been honed by miss kait, my college roommate. I knew that this student was a great guy and had really reached out to previous volunteers so 6 of us piled into a old Fiat and took off for the campo. About 10 minutes outside the city we pulled into a super fancy all-inclusive hostal (Ecuadorian equivalent of a resort) and sweet-talked the owners into giving us some playing time on their one and only squash court. Yet another example of how important palancas (connections) are here in Ecuador. The resort was absolutely beautiful with equa-volleyball courts, 2 swimming pools, a hot tub, tennis courts, and massage parlors- all part of the amenities you get for a $50/night cabana rental. Squash was an absolute blast, although it can be rough if you cant find a partner with your same ability level. The boys were all dominating me and the other girl with us couldnt quite return my serves, but it was a great time nonetheless. Anyway, after a few rousing hours of squash we piled back into the fiat with elbows sticking out the windows, my left thigh straining to steer clear of the gear shift, and the 6`2" boys struggling to keep their knees out of their throats. As we slowly made our way back to the city, my student remarked that his headlights didnt seem to be working and we were thus driving back on a dirt road with only the street lights to guide us. Just then, we saw another color lights coming up behind us- the red and blue kind. Chuta (Shoot!), we all thought as the national trooper pulled closely up behind us. "Pull off here and stop the car," the police instructed. I must say, as waves of military fatugues and machine guns flashed before my eyes, I almost lost it. The butt of one officer´s gun was inches from Kane´s face in the passenger side window. They instructed us to get out of the car as they questioned my student about who we were, (Are they tourists?), and why he was driving with 6 people in a 5 passenger car without headlights. Now, I had a large bag sitting on my lap with a decent amount of money in it and my passport (we are required by law to carry it here) and I had heard horror stories of corrupt military officers demanding bribes. I struggled with whether to take my bag with me outside the car and risk pissing off the armed men or to leave it in the car and risk losing my money and passport. I decided on the later after hearing my father`s warnings about south american countries echoing in my head. After a quick search of the car to make sure we hadn`t been drinking and weren`t smuggling drugs they told us to get our light fixed pronto and be careful driving back with such a full car.

And that was it. They left. No bribes, no insinuation of bribes, no violence, no questions for us gringos to answer, no searching through my bag, no human trafficking to Columbia, not really even any intentional intimidation (although seeing a machine gun was quite intimidating to us Americans who were not accustomed). The police were simply doing their job and were looking out for our safety. I was shocked.

On the way home as we pressed my student about whether this was a normal run-in with the police he said that we were lucky that it was the national police and not the local police. He said about 50% of the time a small bribe is neccessary to get the local police off your back for infractions such as broken headlights. On the contrary, the national police are usually buena gente (good people), take their job very seriously, and generally conduct themselves fairly and with honor.

While I do intend to be a little more choosey when riding in cars and a little more weary of late-night escapades, I will say that the experience gave me greater respect for the Ecuadorian government and military. Hows that for a cultural experience!

La Caseria del Zorro and the Lake of Blood

This past weekend was the annual independence day for the gigantic coastal port city of Guayaquil. After much deliberation, Amy, Kane and I decided to skip the reunion with our fellow volunteers in Guayaquil to partake in a local Ibarra celebration which we had heard involved horseback riders chasing a fox. After seeing flyers and posters around the city and hearing from locals that the celebration is not the largest in the city but one of the most fun, we purchased tickets to the infamous after-party through some of our few Ecuadorian friends and anxiously waited out the weekend.
Saturday morning at roughly 10 am I traveled to the city´s main park to see the first event of the day- the parade- with my host mom and some of her friends that had driven up from Quito to witness the tradition. The blaring salsa music, colorful venders, and about 1,000 spectators anxiously awaited the procession of horses and numbered participant horseback riders fashioned in traditional dress and not-surprisingly looking like they stepped right out of a Zorro movie. When I finally got my hands on a program I found out that this was the first part of the 4-part day. After the parade, all the spectators jumped in cars and took off for the mountain where they could watch the jockeys ride down on an incredibly complex and winding course in pursuit of "Zorro", the black masked rider who had won the 2nd part of the day the year before. My brother David, was one of riders and I waived to him and his girlfriend as they passed near the front of the pack. We saw quite a few horses take a spill on one especially steep trail while munching our empanadas and sipping our Pilseners. While I thought this 2nd part of the festival must be the highlight, my host family told me that the best part was yet to come and that the riders were just getting tired out a little first. Once the riders passed and I snapped a few pics, we again jumped to our car and raced to Yaguacocha Lake (about 15 minutes outside the city) where the 3rd part, the actual race, would take place. Around the historic lake where a deadly Incan battle had once taken place deeming the site "Lake of Blood" (or Yacuacocha in Quichua), we saw a 2 mile race course that had held a sort of Ecuadorian Nascar in the 80s but had since been shut down. In recent years the Ibarra country club has sponsored this race to capture the tail of Zorro with $1,000 going to the winner. As the gun went off and the riders advanced on Zorro, the crowd went crazy with applause and cheers. Our seats in the side bleachers proved to be the best spot in the stadium to see the Zorro get his rope tail pulled off by another rider right near the end of the race. When the race finally ends around 5pm, everyone goes home to get in a siesta (nap) before the real partying starts. Around 10pm we left with my host brother and his friends to attend the after party- a 5 hour crazy dancefest hosted at a local hacienda. This was no ordinary party: There were 5 dance floors, a stage with live music, countless tents, a buffet of typical Ecuafood, and a plethora of ridiculously strong moonshine-type beverages that were all a mandatory part of the experience. As Kane and I struggled to keep up, we made a few new friends and even mingled with a few of our students. Around 3:30 we finally returned home and crashed until almost noon the next day. When I finally did get up the next day, I got out my dictionary wondering why on earth I had thought the race had to do with chasing a live fox. As I read the definition of fox, the lights finally went on in the old Basak brain. Spanish translation of fox: zorro.
Hey, better late than never, right?

In other news, today is the final day of election campaigning. On Saturday and Sunday, drinking, smoking are any other mind-altering substances are strictly prohibited/cannot be sold in preparation for the Sunday elections.

Also, yesterday I walked out of my morning class to find roughly 10 officials and the mayor of Ibarra standing around our small tropical campus. Not only did I get to meet the mayor, but amy and I left such an impression that he is planning a party/dinner at our school so we can get to know each other better. Guess who got nominated to cook?

Electionmania

Tonight I helped my host family and his campaign team wrap over 500 matchboxes with a flashy green sticker that boasted my father's party, his party name, and their number. And what an experience it was. I was very impressed by this group of young people who were passionate about their political beliefs in a time when the average Ecuadorian citizen has long ago given up on their government. I found out that his party, the democratic christians, is ideologically somewhere in the middle between liberals and conservatives and that they have a strong tie to human rights. With over 30 established political parties to choose from, voters really have their work cut out for them in being an informed citizen. Propaganda such as these matchboxes, food, candy, and even money in more extreme cases, is distributed in mass quantity to people in "the campo" or the countryside where the people are more than happy to vote for anyone who will give them even a "spark" of help, so to speak. The fact that voting is obligatory in Ecuador is the source of many of its political problems. When I first heard about the mandatory voting, I thought it was brilliant and that the US should implement the same policy so that American Idol could no longer boast that it received more participation than the presidential elections. However, in practice, this is a horrible idea because it inevitably leads to the richest most established candidates buying the votes of the poor and uneducated and uninformed with gifts and promises that they don't intend to keep. In this manner, the corrupt candidate is "elected" under the guise of a legitimate democracy and chaos ensues as his term progresses.

October 15th is the big day. I'm not sure if my father will win, but it is an exciting time to be in Ecuador nonetheless. I was invited to participate in the campaigning efforts this weekend, which are sure to include lots of megaphones and salsa music. Thoughts on whether I should joing the campaign?

Intro to Ibarra

This past Saturday, Kane, Amy and I met each other, host families in tow, in the middle of downtown Quito. It was a great idea, in theory, to meet in the middle of the city since Amy and Kane lived to the north and I lived in the south. However, we quickly realized that none of the buses from the center of town were leaving for a number of hours, so our families literally drove us to the main highway and abruptly pulled over to the right side of the road. They then proceeded to flag down tour buses who would fling our luggage under the hatch while we jumped on. Apparently this is normal procedure here because the bus company seemed more than happy to oblige. I waived to the toyota corolla filled with the people who had been my family for the month of September (mamita, papito, eddie, dorita, and kevin), and thought of how lucky I had been to share their lives.

About 3 hours later as the bus pulled up to the Ibarra stop, I immediately sense that my next family experience would be a very different one. As I walked through the small city, I saw posters of my host-father's face plastered on billboards and store windows. He is a local businessman and is running for concejal in the coming October 15th elections. From what I can understand, concejal is the representative for the city of Ibarra in the provincial representation of the Imbabura province. Ecuador's political system has been historically inefficient and problematic, leading to the creation of more than 30 established political parties. Ecuador has also had 10 presidents in the past 8 years- not a good record considering each term should be 4-years long. Although these turnovers have been peaceful oustings of what the people consider "corrupt" politicians, as a whole the people have lost much faith in politics altogether. The coming elections (from the president all the way down to local representatives) are extremely important to the country's development because peaceful elections and a functional democracy indicate economic stability. Economic stability clears the way for any international investors that may be considering taking stock in Ecua-businesses and more businesses means more jobs for struggling workers. Tomorrow will be my second day of school and so I will be distributing propaganda to my students in hopes that they will vote for my host "papa". I really do think he's a stand-up guy. I've noticed that despite his high-profile role in the community, he treats everyone he encounters with compassion and respect, from our house employee to the fruit-seller at the local market. I 'll make sure to let you know how it goes on the 16th of October.


On another note, have I mentioned that a blown-up picture of me reading a English book in the CECAMI classroom is the front page of the brochures and banners that are distributed to the entire province? I seriously am the WT/CECAMI poster child if you can believe it. I was told that our director "hand picked" the photo himself. Good thing I laughed at his joke about sleeping with your professor. I'll make sure to bring a few back, Mom, so you can include them in your scrapbook.