Monday morning Jeremy, four backpacks, and I, set out for the Ormeño bus office. Our tickets read ¨Departure: 11am,¨ but Jeffery, Jeremy´s host brother and our estimable chauffer, started work at 9am. So, we were on Ormeño´s doorstep at 8:45. Just as Jeffery´s red hatchback disappeared into the city smog, the man behind the counter uttered the fateful words:
¨Lo que pasa es que....¨
Pause.
For my dear readers with little experience in Latin America culture, this point is crucial. You very rarely will hear the above phrase associated with something good. You probably don´t want to hear it on the eve of an international journey, and you definitely don´t want to hear it from the man with the keys.
Literally, it translates to ¨It that happened is that...¨ but for my fellow American English speakers, we would probably replace it with ¨Yeah. About that...¨ See? Never a good sign.
Resume.
Our bus was in the shop. Our 11am departure postponed to 1:30pm. Hopefully. It seemed pointless to take a taxi home, so we turned in our backpacks (full of whole wheat bread, peanut butter, apples, and chocolate - thanks Jeremy), and set out to explore Guayaquil until take off.
Three hours, one suburn, and a giant loop of the city later, we were back at the Ormeño office. The attendent met us at the door. The office behind him was empty. Bad signs. The poor man, who couldn´t have been much older than me (although Ecuadorians have fooled me before), sheepishly explained that we would be leaving at 6pm. Seven hours later than expected. By Latin American standards, that´s practically early.
As much fun as our morning jaunt had been, Team Ecuador chose hunger and hammocks over more walking in the Equatorial sun, and headed to Jeremy´s for lunch, a nap, and repacking. Then it was back to the Ormeño office, and finally beginning the bus ride. . . which will be installment #2.
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