When travelling, especially alone, I'm fairly capable of putting my anxiety at rest which is a complete departure from my daily life. For example, I don't speak Spanish and I'm in a country that does speak Spanish. I can get around but unplanned events will happen. To save money yesterday, I decided that to get from my hostel in Quito to the bus station bound for Otavalo, I would take public transportation. A taxi costs $8.50 and a bus only $.25. So I got some delighfully vague directions from the hostel staff that involved a bus transfer. The first leg went as planned, but the transfer made me nervous. I was going to the station Carcelen but at the transfer there were two buses named Carcelen, one of which was called Carcelen bajo, which happened to be the bus present at the moment. So I asked th bus driver's assistant, "Carcelen terminal?" and she said, "si", so I boarded. 20 minutes later I noticed no one on the bus had baggage. 30 minutes later the bus was empty in a random neigborhood and the assistant gave me an incredulous look when I asked, again, "Terminal Carcelen?" "Non" and then some Spanish I made out to be 'you idiot you took the wrong bus.' So I got off, walked 15 minutes, found a taxi, and my cost savings were diminished.
Bus stations in Quito are unlike those in Senegal. No one was grabbing my arm trying to get me onto their bus or yelling at me to buy something. I simply approached a counter that said 'Otavalo', bought a ticket and made my way to the bus. As I approached the buses 20 or so heavily armed police (all police in Ecuador looked heavily armed to me yet they only carry side arms) and a flock of journalist surrounded a bus and started going through a man's luggage. Oh wow, is this a bust? Was there a tip and the police invited the news crews? So I take a seat at my departure gate and watch the police. No, nothing. The police then begin searching other people's luggage. One of the police stared at my overpacked 40 liter bag. TV crews film and photographers snap pictures of the search on other bus. My bus pulls up and 10 of us board a bus that can hold 50. 2 minutes later a police man requests we all unload. As I was the only person with considerable luggage, two police men take my bags and the rest watch. One begins to methodically remove every article, unrolling my pants, fondling my underwear, reaching into my shoes and removing the stuffed socks. Another police man went through my other bag. "What's this?" A sleeping bag. "This?" A tent. Soon camera crews and a few reporters have surrounded me, filming and snapping pictures, waiting for the chance that I had something illegal and they could capture my guilty face. After removing every article of a very deliberate and well packed bag, they start asking questions. "I'm a student." "Tourist." One offiicer is looking at, of all forms of ID's I'm carrying, my internation student ID card. "How long in Ecuador?" "15 dias," which I began to suspect was not the question he asked based on the confused look on his face. A few more mangled attempts at communication and I was assured, "No problemo."
I was left to stuff everything back into my bag, hands shaking, with an audience of police, reporters and dozens of curious travellers. I joined my companions on the bus, and we quickly lefy the station. I had a wonderfully spacious seat with room for my bags next to me. And the bus driver puts on the most random film I could have imagined, "Street Fighter." YES! There is no other film I would have rather watched.
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