Yesterday, on our five and a half hour bus ride from Quito to Tulcán, we passengers had the opportunity to watch four - yes, four! - movies. We knew it was a bad sign when they started one the moment we pulled out of the bus terminal, but we didn't know how bad! Fortunately, we were far enough back on the bus that I could scrunch down in my seat to avoid seeing the screen. I didn't know I would have to sit that way the whole trip! We stuffed our ear buds in as far as they would go to try and cover up the sounds of violence and enjoyed the scenery as we traveled north through the mountains.
Today, we took a local bus from the center of Ipiales to the home where we were scheduled to have lunch. The first thing that was obvious was that it wouldn't be a quiet ride because of the man playing his guitar and singing for the entertainment of the passengers and to hopefully earn a few pesos for himself. The next thing that became quickly apparent was that there was a man on the bus who was extremely upset by our presence. I wouldn't want to repeat all the things that he said about "gringos" in general and then about the "gringas" - us specifically. It went for a few minutes with other passengers shooting us apologetic glances as he rambled on. Finally, they had had enough. At the end of our guitar player's song, there was a resounding "No more!" directed at our disgruntled fellow-passenger. He kept on with his rant, undeterred by the others' displeasure. Finally, one man in the back called the police. When we got to the next plaza, they got the attention of the police there, and our man disembarked. Unpleasant? Perhaps. The poor man obviously had bigger troubles than a couple of gringas. But you know what stood out to me the most in the whole experience? The way every other person on that bus took our part. When we got of the bus, there were smiles directed our way from people who otherwise would have ignored us (not in a mean way, just because you don't usually get super-acquainted with people on the bus). People told us to have as good day and wished us well. We smiled and wished them the same. And I grew in respect for the people here again.
1 comment:
That was quite a bus ride. Sometimes you wonder what's happened to a person to make them so bitter. I had an extremely unpleasant trip sharing a seat with a handicapped woman who ranted on and on about her hatred for America and Americans. She said that she rejoiced the day the Twin Towers were destroyed. At a bus stop when someone got off, I moved to a different seat. She seemed surprised and asked why. I said I wasn't interested in arguing with her and I didn't enjoy listening to what she was saying. She said 'But I'm not trying to argue or fight.' I honestly don'tthink she had any idea of how rude she was being. It was as if she thought I was madeof some sort of impervious armor or something. It was odd, to say the least, and extremely unpleasant.
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