so we were on the ecovia today (one of the buses in quito) and we're just riding along, packed as usual, when on comes the guy who pick-pocketed my money last week. i don't know if there's really anything i can do... not like i could prove it. so i quietly tell my friend next to me "hey that's the guy who stole my money last week." he's on the ecovia for only a little while and gets off at the very next stop. the next moment i hear my friend david say "where's my wallet??"
he totally took it.
and it turns out that within an hour he spent $3,500 dollars from his credit card that was in the wallet.
so i feel kind of bad because i knew this guy was a thief and i didn't say anything... but i didn't really know what to do because if i did announce to the entire bus "hey yall, this guy is a thief!"... or more like "oye! este hombre es un ladron!" i didn't know if 1)anyone would care or 2)if he would just turn around and punch me in the face.
later, telling my pains to my profesora, she said that if i were to annouce "ladron! ladron!" (or something similar in spanish or english to get the point across) the conductor would immediately shut the doors of the ecovia and call the police to be at the next stop to arrest him. plus the other people would be totally into it.
proxima ves.
so, words of "wisdom" or more like experience from stupidity, do not keep ANYTHING in ANY pockets while on a bus or in a crowded place. both david and i thought we were guarding our pockets but... and if someone does happen to take something, make a fuss and people will help.
also, vocab word for the day:
Ladron- thief (don't forget to roll your r)
im going to the beach this weekend, think happy, unsunburned, dis-malaria-infected thoughts for me.
spanks,
mads
Wow, great story. Sucks for David. Bummer.
ReplyDeletewow, madeline. great advice, thanks so much! and also, don't feel bad because words of wisdom are almost always just experience from stupidity.
ReplyDeletelos ladrones are tricky. Also, sometimes they work in teams. beware. I was on el trolebus one time when they shut all the doors and the transit police got on and arrested somebody. It was awesome.
ReplyDeleteoooh, thanks for the vocab word! The only other thing I can remember to say in Spanish is a phrase from a book Natalia got me for my birthday: "Hace frio. Hace mucho frio!"
ReplyDeletehaha
Also, that is a delicious fruit in your picture there. I miss delicious Ecuadorian fruits. Have some guanabana for me!
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ReplyDeleteI totally would have done the same thing on the bus.
ReplyDeleteMads, I don't think any one of us would have done anything any differently--and I'm sorry you and David got robbed. That's no fun. BUT it is a good learning experience--you know how I know? Cause it sounds like we all learned through it, and we weren't even there!! AND it's a great story...I hope that's consolation... Love you!! And yeah, those fruits taste so wrong and so right at the same time (like many things in my life?)
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