The Story of Quito and Lost Innocence
So Stef and I got conned in Quito and her bag was stolen. We arrived in the capital and headed to the Pizza Hut because we craved bad food that we recognize! After a delightful lunch, we come outside and see sunglass vendors. We both stop to browse and Stef gets a pair for $6 (the guy asked for $8 and Stef claimed to only have $6 and the guy agreed... apparently, that is how Stef bargains). Then all of a sudden, a 40-ish year old man points at Stef's bag and stays that it's dirty (sucio)... she turns and I look and indeed her bag and part of her pants had sauce on it. OK, it seems pretty obvious now that something was going down but at the time... it was really confusing and weird. The first thought in my head was... how can there be sauce on her... where were we that she would have gotten sauce on her? She thought that someone threw the sauce on... and she was wondering who would do such a thing and why... Well those questions would soon be answered. The guy pulls out a roll of toilet paper from his pocket. Most people carry this with them so we didn't think anything of it. He gets Stef to take the bag off and turn her around to pat down her ass. I try to help her but the vendor keep me around by putting more sunglasses in my hand. Then another man tells me that my bag is dirty too... but I have a purse and I easily check that he is wrong. At the same time, the guy helping Stef calls me over (I think they wanted to all talk to me at the same time so I would put down my bag as well)... I walk over to help and then the next thing I hear is Stef saying... Where is my bag. Then another man says a tall guy took it in one direction. We both look and don't see anyone. By the time we look back, everyone in the area is gone. So we think they were all in on it... and even the guy who told us which way the theif went probably pointed in the wrong/opposite direction! It really sucked!!!!!!! I felt so bad for Stef. She lost her bank card, about $100 US, some other stuff and my Lonely Planet guide book (although that's really not a big deal). She really impressed me with the way she handled the situation though. It sucked but she wasn't crazy... she pulled it together and by the end of the day, we were laughing about it (bitterly).
We spent the day walking around the mall (we were originally there to buy shoes and pants and purses but didn't feel up to shopping). We saw X-Men 3 in English and that was a lovely mental break... though I really didn't enjoy this film (I liked 1 and 2). Then we went home and called her mom. On the way, the taxi driver heard our story and when the meter read $2.78, he charged us only $2.50. We lost $100 but saved 28cents. And also, we bought a bag of twix and I left it on the bus back to Cayambe and after we got off, the guy stops the bus and runs it to us. You really meet the two extremes of niceness while travelling!
So yeah, if anyone tells you your anything is dirty... don't listen... they're out to steal your bag... after coppin' a feel!
We spent the day walking around the mall (we were originally there to buy shoes and pants and purses but didn't feel up to shopping). We saw X-Men 3 in English and that was a lovely mental break... though I really didn't enjoy this film (I liked 1 and 2). Then we went home and called her mom. On the way, the taxi driver heard our story and when the meter read $2.78, he charged us only $2.50. We lost $100 but saved 28cents. And also, we bought a bag of twix and I left it on the bus back to Cayambe and after we got off, the guy stops the bus and runs it to us. You really meet the two extremes of niceness while travelling!
So yeah, if anyone tells you your anything is dirty... don't listen... they're out to steal your bag... after coppin' a feel!