Chapter 9: Mi Paragua, Mi Espada

   In Ecuador you have to be prepared for anything. This is especially true with the weather, which is rarely predictable. In the morning and at night its usually a bit cooler, cold enough for jeans and a sweatshirt. By noon the sun is in full force which means stripping off the sweatshirt, having a good pair of sunglasses at the ready and applying sunscreen to all exposed skin. If I don't put sunscreen on before I leave in the morning, its okay because I keep a bottle in my backpack at all times. About once a day here, sometimes twice, it rains here in Cuenca. Just in case I always keep my umbrella packed on the side compartment of my knapsack.  As the Boyscout motto goes, "Always be prepared", turns out that was good advice.

   Now when I first packed my umbrella along I was thinking only of staying dry. Fairly quickly it could serve another purpose: portection or more so peace of mind. In one of Robert Ludlum's novels ( I cannot recall which, possibly The Materese Circle) the main character talks about how he always keeps a roll of quarters on his person to clutch on dark nights. For him its both a peace of mind and a necessary precaution living as a spy during the cold war, when no one was truly trustworthy. For me my umbrella is both a good weight in my hand while I'm walking as well as a way to stay calm in the city. I like to imagine that its a sword or in spanish "espada"even though in reality it is a small umbrella, maybe a foot long at best.

   I like espada as a word a bit better than the word sword. The english word sword looks a bit like someone took "word" and slapped an "s" in front of it saying, "That'll do!" And it gets the job done and makes for the butt of a classic joke on SNL involving Sean Connery, but that's it. For me, espada not only gets the job done, but also the syllables which make up espada invoke a series of actions as it is uttered. Each of the syllables come together to create a full action. "Es"-it sounds soft like a swift lunge, "Pa" the feint, and "da"the strike with the weapon.

   But anyway, I had never really lived in a big city 'til I came here ( this is probably where my mom is lamenting that we should have stayed in Milwaukee. Well maybe that would have prepared me for living in a city, but had we not moved I wouldn't be the person I am and either way this is a completely foreign city) so I didn't know some of the in's and out's of city living. Such as proper procedure for hailing a city bus: arm up and extended; or how much trickier it is crossing streets that are congested with traffic: there are two great methods that can be employed for crossing the street- playing frogger or being extremely cautious. I usually prefer the second method. No one told me there would be people that sleep in their cars at night. Lots of people did advise me that the city is dangerous which meant for the better part of the first week I became afraid of the dark. I would do my best to get home by sunset. On the few nights I left later, my umbrella/paragua became my sword. And you know what? That made me feel a lot more safe. They also advised us that when walking anywhere to walk with purpose, that turns out to be something I excel at.