Counterfeit money, men with guns

So sometimes you get a jolt in Quito that reminds you you're not in Kansas anymore...

Sometimes it's the indigenous Quichua children pulling at your sleeve, pleading "señora, señora, buy some gum," sometimes it's the bright shawl wraps of the tradionally dressed women, sometimes it's the reckless traffic...

Then sometimes it's fake bills and armed men.

About half of the students in the program have already run into trouble with counterfeit money. Ecuador completely got rid of its sucre currency earlier this year. Counterfeit money is rampant here. Every person looks at EVERY bill, even fives. Last night, we had a counterfeit twenty when we paid the bill at a restaurant and the restaurant refused to accept it, so you have to eat the loss when this happens. I went to the bank and changed all my money into five dollar bills, so that I wouldn't need to get change. Sometimes, when people know they've been passed counterfeit bills, they try to pass it off onto foreigners to recover their losses. You are supposed to check all your own bills, but I can't even spot the counterfeits because they're pretty good.

Then there's the armed guards. It's a little unnerving to get money from the ATM when a uniformed tough guy is standing next to the machine with some kind of rifle in his hands. Wealthier people walk around with bodyguards. Today was the scariest. An army vehicle pulled up in front of our apartment as I was leaving, and a bunch of armed soldiers ran into the neighboring house, guns at the ready... I have no idea what they were doing... Of course, to me, it looked sketchy.

Elections, including the presidential election, are Sunday. It is the law here that everyone between 18 and 65 MUST vote. It's illegal not to vote. Candidates are not allowed to campaign after Thursday for Sunday elections, and no alcohol can be sold in the country this weekend, so that everyone will supposedly be sober for the voting process. Sunday promises to be a day of upheaval as people frequently protest and contest elections here. They told us to stay put at home and avoid people and public in general Sunday, which will be my first full day in Puyo.

Being here has reminded me how fortunate I am to live in a country with a stable government, where armed guards are not necessary, where fake money is rare, where they don't arrest gays, and where they don't throw women in prison for two years for having an abortion! Not to mention all the illnesses they still combat here like the rampant malaria and dengue. Then there's the grotesque poverty.

I bought my bus ticket to Puyo, and now I must go home to pack. I have no idea who will be picking me up in Puyo or where I will go, so I hope the doctor emails me. Otherwise, looks like I'll be hunting down a last minute hostel.