Our "Not So Jolly" Trolley Ride

It really happened. Much like we had been told it might. I was the victim of a pick-pocket theft today. My wallet was lifted from my front pants pocket as we rode in a jam, slam packed street car/trolley downtown to the area known as Colonial Quito...buildings, churches from the spanish colonial era beginning in the 1500s to the early 1800s. Beautiful area. Such history.

Here's the scoop on the theft. We have been warned aplenty about the potential for theft at certain times, in certain areas. There are basically 4 methods of transport available to us.
1. Ride in the "Sprinter", a transport of the NILI program for official trips, etc.
2. Take a taxi.
3. Ride the bus.
4. Take a trolley. this means taking a taxi or bus to the trolley station, then changing.

All the NILI students headed to see sights outside of Quito this weekend. We opted to stay here and visit some Quito sights we wanted to see, or wanted to see again as the case may be. We've been traveling quite a bit and also studying quite a bit, so staying close and having a relaxing Saturday seemed good to us.

We opted to head for colonial Quito via a bus/trolley combo. We've never taken the trolley before. It's a bit quicker and is cheaper (25 cents) than other modes. We noticed as the trolley went along the crowds inside increased as we went deeper toward the downtown area.

We first wanted to stop at Parque Ejido, which is in/near the more modern part of Quito downtown....On Saturdays they have an artist's market there...it's a lovely, large park. We had a very enjoyable stroll through the park, and Darlene found some souvenir gifts to her liking. We went by a bank and got out some $, went back to the park. I gave a good portion of the $ to Dar.

Then we debated whether to just take a taxi the rest of the way to colonial quito (about a 10-15 minute ride) or get back on the trolley. We decided on the trolley, even though it seemed extremely crowded.

As we were waiting for the trolley, we met a young man from Quito who was wearing an OU Sooners cap. His name was Juan and he had studied as an exchange student in Mineral Wells, TX. I asked him about the cap, and he said that even though he'd been in Texas, there was a friend there from Oklahoma who gave him the cap. It was good to see another Texan see the light.

A trolley pulled up and it was packed to the brim. We squeezed in but had just made it inside the doorway when the doors squeezed shut behind us. We had ridden in crowded buses, but nothing like this....it was like a swarm of people, and a lot of pushing, squeezing, and burrowing whenever the doors opened. We could not move away from the door area, which was unfortunate, because that kept us in position where someone could make a quick escape upon stealing from us.

I had read an article in the paper a few weeks ago about theft problems on the trolley system. I always carry my billfold in my front pocket. I had a backpack today, but that would not have been a good place for my wallet...easy to hit and run. I thought I was prepared. We had not had even one threatening experience.

At the stop prior to the one near colonial Quito, there was an immense crush of people entering and exiting the trolley. People often just jam in, not waiting for people to exit. The result is pushing, burrowing, twisting. I was trying to make sure Darlene's hand didn't get pinched/smashed by the opening door. I was holding on to my backpack with one hand and a rail with another to try to brace myself as people pushed and twisted me around as they said their "con permisos", all the while plowing into us.

I suddenly felt a "vacancy" in my front pocket. As I turned to check, the last of the passengers exiting had left along with about 20 others. I felt my pants and knew that the wallet had been taken, as I had felt an absence that was noticeable.

The door was closing as I thought about whether to give chase...but which one to chase?
I had no idea, the sea of people ebbed and flowed together. I just told Darlene that I thought my wallet had been stolen.

Thankfully, I had given a good portion of our cash to Darlene. I think I lost about $40, plus my debit card. Also they had my Ecuadoran ID card, which is kind of an important document, so I'll need to revisit that process pronto, as I need that if I am stopped by police, as well as for when we go to the Galapagos. It could have been much worse, so we are thankful. But I was angry, feeling like a victim who had no recourse. If it had been $100, I'd have felt more sick, and also angry, and if it had been $5, I'd still have felt angry. It's the principle of the thing. For a moment, in my mind I looked at all the trolley riders and saw them all as though they were thieves (spanish: ladron)

Well, we got out of there before reaching our destination. We stopped to have some pizza and think things through. Then we headed for a phone/internet store where I made an international call to cancel our debit card. We then felt a little more relaxed, and toured some exquisitely designed churches with a lot of gold leaf overlay. It was relaxing to sit in the cathedrals/churches and reflect quietly. I wondered if the thief might show up for confession.

Then we made 2 police reports, as I know they are trying to track where most of the thefts have occurred.

We then met Kimberly Haddon, the assistant director of our program for dinner. We ate at an old restaurant that has rooftop dining, where you can see the lights of Quito on the surrounding hillsides, and the beautifully lit old churches and the Basilica. It was gorgeous. Then it began to rain. So, that plan was modified to a inside window seat with a view.

We had an interesting tour with a self-appointed historical guide, who agreed to a 30 minute tour ($1) of some neighborhoods we'd not seen before. One was La Rondo, which is the oldest neighborhood in Quito....some 500 years old. The streets are very narrow, flags hanging on the side of the buildings. Then we ended up at a church that is about 400 years old. He led us inside.....right into a wedding. He told us that we could take photos as though we'd been invited. As the wedding party departed, our "guide", Juan took us up to the front altar, where a family was having their baby baptized by the priest. It was almost as though we were part of the family, but our guide vouched for how appropriate it was us to be in there for these occasions. I felt like we were in a scene from Forest Gump....like we didn't quite fit. When the tour was over, he whined about the $1.50 I gave him, then whined when I gave him 2 dollars. He now wanted $5. I gave him 50 more cents. He wanted $3. When I showed him my empty pocket and told him of the experience with the thief earlier today, he wanted to know how much was stolen. I told him......for some reason, he just turned and left.

Well, that's enough for now. One of the policemen told me that I should put my money and ID cards in my sock. Other people we met, when told why we were downtown, warned us of thieves. It seemed to us that everywhere we turned that was the message: Watch out for thieves." I thought I had done just that. Oh, well.