Amelia v. El Bosque: Tie Score (2-2)

Now that I've left the house, my next major challenge was buses. As some of you may know, I have extensive experience with bad bus situations. Some of you were part of these situations, and you know who you are. That said, I'm a little skittish of buses sometimes. However, my options were limited.

I woke up at 6 am so I could leave the house at 7 am to get to my Spanish classes all the way across town at 8 am. I actually left the house early (a miracle for me) and went to the bus stop with plenty of time. I had to catch the bus on Avenida de America, and getting there was no problem. However, on this particular street there are two bus stations. One is a raised platform in the median and one is a typical street bus stop. (Side note: in Ecuador bus stops are called "paradas") I went to the one in the median, without really thinking, and then decided that I should go to the other one. I went to the other parada and while I was standing there I tried to figure out how I could possibly know which parada was the right one. I started calling Trish, an Episcopal volunteer I'll be working with who has been helping me with these type of questions, but before the call went through I saw the bus I needed, El Bosque. At this point I'm giving El Bosque one point for my parada slip-up, which meant I had to pay the fare twice (but the fare is 25 cents, so...)

This was when I really started working my game. El Bosque is one hell of a bus. I thought the S buses in DC could be a little crazy, jerking around and being crowded and such, but riding the El Bosque makes you feel as if a dog has picked you up in its jaws and is shaking you around with all his might in an attempt to stun you. Luckily, after a few stops I was able to get a seat. And then I proceeded to get off very near to where I was supposed to. For this, I give myself a point. I may even deserve two, but I'll keep it fair and just give one.

I was supposed to take the Ecovia down Seis de Diciembre to get to the school, but I had studied the map and knew that it was walk-able. And the Ecovias that passed me looked crowded enough to inspire me to take a walk. I was also really early. So I skipped the Evovia and walked to the school with no problems. I even had time to stop at a Paneria and get some coffee and bread. MMmmmmmm.

I then proceeded to have five grueling hours of Spanish class. I'm taking five hours a day, one on one for this entire week. I am absolutely exhausted now after speaking and attempting to understand Spanish for so long, but I know that it's really essential to improve my Spanish before I start work. But after five hours, my teacher gave me HOMEWORK. Ay dios mio!

Feeling quite confident, I walked the Ecovia route again and caught El Bosque as soon as I arrived at the parada. Point 2 for me. Hollllller. However, as I was riding El Bosque, I started to feel as if I had gone past my house. And then the feeling persisted as we climbed up in the hills of the north part of the city. I knew at this point that I was way past where I should have gotten off, and I realized that apparently the return route doesn't go past the same parada where I had gotten on in the morning. After having a minor freak-out in my head, I decided that the best course of action would be to get off El Bosque and wait for another one going back the other way. However, when I decided to do this I'm about 90% sure that I was about half a mile from the end of the line. Fortune favors the bold, not people who sit on the bus for 20 minutes after they know they should have gotten off. Another point for El Bosque.

The place where I got off was up on a unbelievable steep road in a completely residential area. I had some anxiety since I had basically no idea where I was going, but it was about 3 in the afternoon so I wasn't too worried. I managed to ask someone if El Bosque would pass by and if it would got to America y Brasil (my parada) and I got some confirmation. Ohhh yeah. So I waited for 20 minutes or so, got back on El Bosque going back the other way and lo and behold, it stopped at my parada. And I breathed a sigh of relief and hopped off the bus, feeling considerably less confident.

So that is the story of Amelia v. El Bosque. Tomorrow I'm quite confident that I can take on El Bosque and pull out a decisive victory. However, it may have been my overinflated confidence that led to the tie game today, so I'm gonna try to play it cool.