Llamas, Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Oh My!
Well hello again! After noticing that the pictures I took from my parents’ house from their trip to Ecuador were dated from “1998” after they both told me that they went in 1999, dad reminded me that in the 90’s, there weren’t “smart cameras” and he had to manually enter the date, therefore, it was wrong. So now that that’s out of the way, we can get to it. To start, in 1999, on dad’s way to Ecuador, they had to unexpectedly deplane in Panama and were not told why. They were told to leave ALL of their belongings on the plane and were escorted into a building close to the runway. I think I would’ve said, “they’re leading me to my death, aren’t they?” What they did know was that there were drug dogs that went on after them. After that, about an hour later, they just hopped back on and were on their way. What a fun way to start the journey. That’s why they call it an adventure, right?
They probably wished they stayed in Panama, because Quito, Ecuador is not an easy place to fly into and that’s where they were headed. Upon googling the most dangerous airports in the world, I looked at my dad and said “Quito isn’t even on this list, it couldn’t have been that bad.” I then googled Quito’s airport and I found this article:
It was actually so dangerous that they had to relocate it in 2013 because of the accidents caused by “high altitude, cramped runway, and towering volcanoes nearby.” I guess it can’t be on the list if it doesn’t exist anymore (sorry for doubting you, dad).
Jamie’s very quick history lesson: Quito is the second highest capital in the world, and sits directly on the equator. The average temperature is 50-70 degrees YEAR ROUND. Y’all wanna move with me? The downside to being on the equator when you’re a roofer though is that the metal gets HOT HOT. They couldn’t leave any of it out and sunscreen was a MUST. I say that knowing that dad didn’t wear any while he was there and I can feel my Aunt Gina’s blood boiling right now, so don’t tell her. When they arrived, they were picked up from the airport and went through their embassy briefing just like they do each trip. They were then taken to what dad calls an “apartment-style mom and pop hotel” because he says there weren’t many to choose from near the embassy. He also said that it was the coldest water he has ever felt and had to run the water in the shower for 20 minutes before it got warm. I’m not calling him a baby, but if you ever touch my dad with cold hands, he screams, so I’m not sure I *totally* believe this statement.
On one of the first few weeks of being in Ecuador, they ate at the café in the embassy and Abel ordered a chicken soup. After a few bites, he pulled a chicken foot out of it, said “hell no,” and never ordered it again. Despite that, dad said they found quite a few good restaurants to eat at in town and one of them happened to be an Italian food place at a hostel. He spoke fondly of the leather district that was located on the main street as well and saw old men sit around the city park playing dominoes daily. One of the churches they visited, had walls adorned with huge painted murals so that men and women who couldn’t read could learn the stories of the bible.
After being there for a month, they hired local help that consisted of mainly 18-20-year-olds. One of the sheet metal men that dad worked with had lost his pointer finger on his left hand at a previous job in the US. He came to Ecuador and had to work with gloves on because the metal was so hot. One day, he was putting metal on the parapet (another roofing term that dad made me use) wall, and he was trying to get a piece of metal to fit with another one and was having a hard time. He started cussing and grabbed his hammer, took his left hand, put it up on the wall, and started yelling and hammering where his pointer finger used to be unbeknownst to the locals who had no idea he didn’t have one. They all backed away and one guy did the sign of the cross because they thought he was insane. I’d cry for sure.
Every day, they went to work through the side gate of the embassy, and a local guard would open it up for them and salute them. Dad said he was a “real good guy.” He told my dad that his wife had just had a baby in broken English, dad said “congratulations” and gave him 20 dollars as a late gift. Two days later, his wife brought their baby by the embassy to meet him and to say thank you with a meal she made wrapped in foil.
My mom came to visit dad in July and it was her first flight that she’s taken by herself. I’m sure that having to deplane in Panama made that very fun for her….She was surprised with a dozen roses and thought “how sweet” until she realized that they were sold on every street corner for $2. Dad’s a romantic, what can he say? I’m sure the thought of leaving her beautiful, perfect children at home was unbearable so she only stayed for one week. They took walks over to the park to look at the local vendors and one day, had a sketch artist in the park draw a picture of those beautiful, perfect children of theirs to take back home. He hired a local driver to take them around so that they could see as much as possible while she was there.
They rode around in a “mini bus” (pictured above) that took them around small towns outside of Quito. They both described it as a “treacherous trip” and said they asked the driver several times if he could slow down so that they could take pictures and I think he thought that meant “go faster.” The group (also pictured above with mom taking the photo) took a trip to Mitad del Mundo: (pictured below) which is a monument on the equator line where you can stand in the north and southern hemispheres at the same time. The only way to get there was by windy, mountain roads which meant the driver drove on the left side of the road to get away from the edge. You were unable to see if a car was coming from the other way so, at the last minute, he had to get over to the right with a 1,000 ft drop on the other side. Mom said at one point “he passed a car that was passing a bus” on a mountain road and “everyone knew they were going to die” on this trip. I laughed because spoiler alert, I know everyone survived. They visited several other towns on their way, one town being famous for leather goods and others with women sitting on the side of the road making hats.
Mom got to explore while dad was at work and said that someone even stepped out of a cab and asked her for directions. If you know my mom, you know she is extremely white, so I’m not sure if she was flattered or thought he was joking. She said that the local markets had a girl that knew English, and she would go back and forth so that she could help translate. She remembers everyone being very nice and had a great time there. I’m glad she got to go because I’m not sure there would be many pictures if she hadn’t. Also, look how cute this one is:
One of the things dad also mentioned about the city was that there were quite a few earthquakes. When there was about a week left of work, he walked up the stairs and got onto the roof. As he was facing the university building that was catty-cornered to the embassy, everything started to shake and the glass started moving. They all dropped to their knees and dad crawled around what they called the “penthouse” to where Joe and Abel were working. Joe had just pulled out a cigarette, looked at it, and immediately threw it out. Dad said, “Joe, there’s an earthquake.” He said “Is that what that was? I thought I had a bad cigarette and it was making me feel funny.”
After all of the fun and excitement, it was time for dad to get back to those….what did I call them? Oh right, beautiful, perfect children of his.
