September 18, 2011
I like Jena’s response to The Big Event: “You mean you have only been in Ecuador for two days, and they have already tried to tear gas you?” Yes, it’s true.
We were up on a hill taking in the view of old-town Quito, looking at its 16th century Basilica, with its biologically correct iguana gargoyles, when our eyes began to sting and tear up. First a little, then a lot. What an eerie feeling it was. Something was obviously wrong, very wrong, but we couldn’t imagine what it could be. I tried to diffuse the situation by making a lame joke about Gadhafi making his last stand in Quito, but my efforts were ignored by Jeri and the European couple next to us, who quickly bolted downhill, away from whatever it was that was after us. The locals we passed covered their faces with their arms or sweaters as Jeri’s face turned bright red and our eyes continued to burn. After a rapid descent of nearly two blocks, the symptoms lessened, and just like that, went away. But we still had no idea what had happened.
The answer appeared the next morning in our quaint little colonial hotel when our host explained (with a smile) that the police had been having trouble with rebellious students at the high school near the Basilica and decided to end the problem once and for all by tear gassing them.
After spending a good deal of my life in a classroom, I thought to myself, what a simple and elegant solution!
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