Horror

I'm ready to head into Perú. An Australian girl and an American woman will be on the 1 pm bus today headed for Piura, Perú. It goes through Macará, Ecuador & the bus waits for you to sort out your documents. I'm gonna be on that bus! At the terminal, I tried to take out cash at 2 spots but neither could read my card. Uh, oh. If I have to get a new ATM card, that will sure throw a kink in the plan.

The border crossing into Perú is a breeze. All smiles. And the Peruvian guards were more friendly even than the Ecuadorian ones. Then again, the Australian girl is attractive. Her name is Ellen. We aren't the run-of-the-mill for these parts. As for the American woman, she lives in Hawaii. The man seated in front of her reclined in his chair about an hour into the trip. She screamed, punched the back of his seat and spit in his direction. I thought I was witnessing the tantrum of a child. It's 8 hour trip so reclining is not all that uncommon. She's a debutante, I fear. A 65 year-old debutante traveling South America by bus. Carol is her name. Ellen had to sit next to her. Carol can't believe how stupid the people she's met are. Actually, she could believe it, she said. Ellen couldn't. Apparently, Carol hates children. Ellen worked for Child Protective Services before leaving for this trip. Carol so far finds Perú disgusting. Ellen's boyfriend is Perúvian (his family moved to Australia when he was 8). How ironic of a pairing.

We got to Piura & headed for a hostel. Carol wanted to call for a radio taxi (whatever that means) instead of hailing one from the street. Our cab driver (one who pulled up on the street) recommended a different hostel than the one we'd chosed as well as a shishi hotel. Thank God. Carol took the latter option. Ellen & I stayed at the Hotel California. Neither mirrors on the ceiling nor champagne on ice, but it'd suffice. The owner Orlando was quite friendly and sent us to Romano for dinner. The owner of Romano told me about Virginia Tech & the horror there yesterday. It's my father's alma mater. I applied there for college. It's a good school. What an awful thing. A Perúvian was killed so it's even more a topic of discussion here. Ten school shootings in 10 years. Isn't it time to revisit gun control laws? Ecuador is slated to change it's Constitution. Can't we at least make an amendment or something?