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Published: September 22nd 2009
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A cool breeze blows down the street of the hostel, and it dries Gus´ already chapped lips. The night air that surrounds him is quickly filled with Ecuadorian cigarette smoke leaving his lungs. He looks to the top of the street, about twenty metres away, where a dark skinned man, black as the ace of spades, wearing a bright Red Cap, trundles down towards Gus, while below coming up the steep-hilled road, a small but thick shape of a man, dressed in jeans and two thick jumpers, stumbles, step by step, obviously drunk.
Red Cap approaches Gus and tries sparking conversation immediately, although the words that Red Cap speaks are too quick for Gus to fully understand. He nods, smiles and replies "Si, Si."
There are four girls standing at the open hostel door; one American, three Australians. One of the Australian girls, Jaida, stands away from the smoke, beaming with happiness due to just having arrived in Quito with her boyfriend, the chapped-lipped Gus. The near-full moon brings a certain light to the already lit street, and with it comes a certain suspicion, one Jaida is oblivious to.
The drunk small thick shape passes Gus and continues to the summit of the street hill. Red Cap still chats with a speed that makes Gus feel silly for not paying enough attention in Spanish class. As the girls decide to go into the hostel, Gus bids Red Cap good-night, and follows toward the open door. Suddenly, thick thumping noises sound from the top of the street. It prioritises over all the conversations of "lets go inside" and "lets go to bed" and "lets go have a drink", and this priority brings all the travellers back outside. They stare and view two men delivering several kicks to the rolled up drunk thick shape while he is on his side, grounded. Jaida screams "Hey! Get off him!" and runs up as fast as the thin air with allow.
Gus, still on the footpath, saw where the two kickers came from, the same side as Red Cap, and stops, looks around 180 degrees, notes Red Caps position and sees the two kickers run off around and behind the opposite corner. Gus walks quickly, firmly, definitely after Jaida, and reaches the grounded shape at the same time she kneels down to check his condition. The shape rolls over and shows a
Young, Handsome face. He looks disorientated but definitely not shocked. Gus reaches for Jaida´s shoulder and tells her to stand up. As she does, Gus tries to peer around the corner to where the kickers escaped; another four or five steps may give a full view, but Gus retreats back to Jaida who is now speaking with Red Cap and the freshly attacked Young Handsome Drunk.
Gus grabs Jaida´s hand and says "Let´s go, he is fine." She eventually submits, not without several pleas of injustice, to which Gus replies "I don´t like this. He is okay. There is no blood. His head looks fine." They walk down to the hostel door where the other girls
on-look, gobsmacked. Gus keeps a close eye on Red Cap, as he follows.
All the travellers enter the safety of the hostel. Red Cap stands on the street and says to Gus "Come out and talk for a minute", which needs Jaida to translate.
The travellers all look at each other with wide eyes.
The American girl closes the door.
Ecuador
So! Finally! I am ecstatic to have made
it back to South America! The teeth in my smile couldn't show enough when I saw my angel Jayne waiting at the Quito airport holding a large sign reading "SHOW ME THE BEANS!" (she´s a bean addict and was waiting for my delivery of 3 Aussie cans of Heinz Baked).
An absolute spin-out when I ran into a girl who I went to school with, Karla from Sofala was staying at the same hostel, and it was great to catch up with her.
We spent a few days relaxing and walking around Quito, then Jayne and I ventured off for a couple of days near a beautiful mountain named Cotapaxi, very tranquil, but were both keen to get to Colombia sooner rather than later.
Five days in Ecuador didn´t really give it much of a chance, especially when most of that was spent in a fairly standard city like Quito. The attraction of the Colombian mountains and northern beaches were just too appealing, so off we went, to the border...
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