So by now you’ve heard about our camera getting stolen.

You’ve also probably read about Laurene getting pickpocketed and losing her phone on the trolley. In an unrelated incident, she was followed by two men when she was walking around town in the middle of the day. Luckily she had the street smarts to first, glare at them so they knew she knew they were following her, and second, to lose them by ducking into a store on a side street. Peering out the store window, she could see them walking from store to store, clearly searching for something or someone (three guesses which tall blonde they were looking for).

I’m sure you’ve read Ryan’s post about buying a knife (Jasmine) within his first seven hours of arriving in Quito. What you don’t know is that Jasmine was the first of three knives Ryan has bought- he also bought a butterfly knife he named Sacagawea, and yesterday bought a massive Rambo-meets-Indiana-Jones hunting knife he refers to as Tomahawk. It’s probably safe to say that the knives are more for fun than protection, but I’m going for full disclosure here.

Ryan practicing with Sacagawea

When Freddie moved in to our apartment, he found a can of pepper spray in his room – and it was nearly empty. I already mentioned that our neighbors had Laurene and Freddie over for a “safety talk” and also told us where to find the nearest store that sells pepper spray concealed in a pen.

Last Saturday in separate but related incidents, our field producer Evan and I were both hassled by teenage punks on our own street. We compared stories and it sounds like it was the same two kids who approached us individually – again in the middle of the day – and intimidatingly asked for money as one stood in front blocking our path and the other hovered behind, boxing us in. I was literally 50 steps away from our apartment when the first kid grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go until I screamed fiercely at him to stop. He let go, surprised at my outburst, and they disappeared down the street. Fortunately, I was fine but I couldn’t believe I had just been harassed outside my own apartment.

Our daytime security guard Luis

One of Ryan’s friends who has been here for nearly a year told us how someone slit the bottom of her purse with a razor blade and stole her wallet on the trolley. We heard another story of a woman coming home to her apartment where everything had been stolen – the thieves had removed the front door and cleared her apartment of all her furniture and belongings. Imagine coming home to your apartment and finding it stripped bare of every last thing.

Not being able to walk outside after dark takes its toll. Not being able to take our laptops to a local coffee shop without worrying that someone will rob us is definitely something we could live without.

We’re not your green, scared travelers who hear about a State Department warning and think, Oh no, Mexico’s dangerous – I shouldn’t go there. On the contrary, members of our team have spent plenty of time in Mexico, India, Senegal, Central America, and Southeast Asia. We’re not ones to let statistics and horror stories stop us from exploring all the amazing things – Andean mountain villages, cloud forests, the Amazon, the Galapagos – that Ecuador has to offer.

So yes, Ecuador is amazing and beautiful, but when they said it was dangerous, they weren’t kidding.

But then again, if we let that stop us, we would be missing a lot more than our wallets.

Sometimes it’s just guns.

Kidding.

Kind of.

The hunt is on for a job in Quito. After applying for a mysterious Magician’s Assistant post found under Quito’s Craigslist, I sat back and tried to work some mental magic and will the magician to respond. Laurene and Freddie have both gotten jobs teaching English, but try as I might, I couldn’t motivate myself to apply for teaching jobs. We recently met a bartender who had partied with Guns N Roses when they played in Quito recently, and I had seen some places who were hiring bartenders. Except I don’t know how to tend bar. Right.

Rabbits out of hats, Getting sawed in half = I'm in!

My day had started out pretty good- I slept until noon since I have become an insomniac since living here (along with half of our apartment) and have trouble falling asleep before 2 or 3am. My recent obsession has been researching shamans in the Amazon and contemplating going to live in the jungle to learn from them. Other than that, I had lunch with a new friend who took me to a local hotspot for wealthy Quitenos and we feasted on the Ecuadorian version of sushi. Things were looking up. (more…)

So yes, Baños was a wonderful getaway and we soaked up the scenery, soaked in the hot springs, and then got soaked on the river.

Little did we know our luck was about to change.

On our way back from Baños, we split up and took two different buses. Laurene and Freddie needed to get back to Quito to work/find work the next day so they left after lunch. But I didn’t have any pressing engagements (let’s be honest, no job prospects in sight) so I was contemplating traveling further south for a few days. After much deliberation, I ended up going back to Quito, so I took an afternoon bus with Evan, our field producer and cameraman.

We were seated in the last row of the bus on the right hand side. On the left side of the bus there was one additional row of seats further back that were directly across from the bathroom. Our bags were under our seats, and our seats backed up against the bathroom.

The 4-hour bus ride had lulled me to sleep and by the time I woke up about 30 minutes from Quito, our camera was missing. We searched frantically all around us, on the top shelf of the bus and under our neighbor’s seats. They noticed us panicking and one young couple offered to help: the girl went to talk to the bus driver, who called the police. (more…)

I have been in Quito for about 2 weeks now and I feel that I´ve gotten a chance to see alot of the city and wanted to share some of my thoughts with you. Here are the top 5 things I love about living in Quito followed by a few things I could do without.

Almuerzos: These are cheaply priced fixed meals offered at traditional Ecuadorean restaurants that are found on nearly every block.  For about 1.50 USD you can have a hearty soup made with quinua, a yummy grain native to the Andes, some rice, a piece of meat and some beans all served with a delicious freshly made fruit juice. Excellent.

Chifles: Fried banana chips. Exquisite.  Only about 50 cents USD for a bag of heaven.

The Old City:  This part of town is filled with wonderful colonial architecture that was made to be photographed.  From the plazas to the palaces and churches, this is the crown jewel of Quito.  You can wander around the cobble stoned streets and really get a feel for what life was once like in this gorgeous part of town.

Music: The city owes alot of its charm to the sheer amount of music you are presented with at every turn.  Whether its pasillo, folklorica, salsa or cumbia you can count on hearing something awesome anywhere you go.  I can´t wait to find some local music venues and take in some live acts.

Ease of public transport: Taxis are everywhere and can get you around Quito very cheaply and quickly.  Quito also has a trolley line, and a few other bus lines that can get you just about everywhere you need to be.  A car really isn´t necessary if you live here but you might need one if you want to reach some of the more remote places in Ecuador.

Now on to some of the not so fun parts about Quito

Traffic:  Getting in and out of Quito as we learned this weekend on our trip to the Andes was a nightmare.  Traffic, smog, and standing on buses for hours at a time are not my idea of fun but you just have to go with the flow sometimes.

Safety concerns: While apartment hunting around the city last weekend we kept getting warned by people to be careful for possible muggings, theft, etc.  The city much like any other big city has its rough parts I´m sure but it´s a little scary when people you meet tell you that 90% of their friends have been victimized in some form or another.  We will take the proper precautions and will be buying brass knuckles, bazookas and flame throwers to ensure the rest of our time here is peachy.