On Sunday, I felt like doing something but I wasn't sure what. I went for a jog in Abraham Lincoln Park again and saw a rainbow. Yay.
Some Couchsurfers invited me to fly kites in the Laguna Alalay. When I asked how to get there, everyone kept telling me it was dangerous, so I obviously didn't feel that comfortable going there but decided to go anyway. I took the "trufi" there for the first time. A "trufi" is another form of public transportation, kind of like a public taxi. Usually it is a van that has a number on the top and directions posted on the windshield with stickers or cardboard signs. There are no formal bus stops (like the "micros") and you just catch it anywhere along the route. I tried to get a map of public transit routes here, but it does not exist. The only information you can get is by word of mouth. The fare for trufis is the same - about 30 cents. I waved down the one I was supposed to take, number 134 to Laguna Alalay. It was already pretty full of passengers, but the driver asked me if I wanted to try and squeeze in anyway. We both shrugged our shoulders, and I decided o give it a try. I was squeezed between the front door, three or four children (can't remember, but I remember it was a lot of little kids), and the driver. It did not feel very safe, but I am alive to tell the story. As soon as someone got off, I asked if I could switch seats. I opened the door and practically popped out onto the street; that's how full this car was! From there I made it "safely" to the Laguna.
The Couchsurfers told me to meet them in front of the police station, so that's where I waited. While I was waiting, I started talking with a strange woman there who was very serious but sociable at the same time. When I told her I was meeting people I had not met before, she got suspicious and started implanting all kinds of bad ideas in my head, like how they could assault me and rob me, etc. This was a possibility of course, but I already had seen the person's profile and references on Couchsurfing and she seemed fine. The woman went a bit overboard by telling this to the policeman there. He came up to me, and, trying to be all assertive he instructed me to go to him when my new "friends" came. I felt like I was in a really weird position. It seemed they were trying to protect me since I was not from there, but at the same time I have heard how corrupt and ridiculous the police force can be here. Well, the Couchsurfers arrived and they looked harmless (they were harmless), and the policeman went right up to them and started asking for their ID's in an aggressive way. They were quite put-off, as was I. It was a very awkward situation and not a very good start to any kind of friendship.
I walked away with them to go fly kites (I don't even like flying kites. By then I was wondering why I went in the first place) but I was feeling really uncomfortable and people kept telling me that this was a place I should not be in. The girl said the policeman assaulted her when he asked for their IDs and he had no right to ask for their IDs, and I felt like it was somehow my fault. I was put in a situation where I did not know who to trust, and no one was helping me feel comfortable, either.
After a short time I apologized and decided that I had to go home before it got dark. It does not help when everyone around you says that it is dangerous. It creates bad energy, and I don't like it. It reminded me of Fortaleza, because everywhere I went people had nothing good to say, except that it was dangerous. That's no fun. Well, nothing happened, thank goodness, and I did not feel threatened, but I don't think I will go back there. It was not even a lake. It used to be a lake, but then it got polluted and dried up - such a shame. Just a big dried-up space with lots of stray dogs, trash and remnants of what used to be a lake.
I bought some fruit at the market nearby on my way home and met a man who had studied in Virginia. I can't tell you how many people from Bolivia I have met who have been to Virginia, lived in Virginia, studied in Virginia or have family in Virginia.
The good thing about the trufis and micros is that they come pretty often and are a good and cheap way to get around (if you know where it will take you). I took the same "trufi" going home, and watched from the window as a forest fire blazed in the distance. No one seemed to be alarmed except for me. They said it was normal, but that it happened because people go camping and are careless about their fires or cigarette butts. The forest is very dry, and it can ignite very easily. As the evening went on, the fire got a lot bigger, to the point where I was wondering if we would have to evacuate! The air was quite smokey and did not feel healthy to breath in at all! Again, everyone told me not to worry.
I noticed that traffic laws here are very loosely followed. I witnessed cars either act like red lights are simply stop signs or just ignore the red lights completely. Meanwhile, the seat belts in almost every car have been defunct and are useless. No one uses seat belts. A lot of people do not use blinkers, either. I have to be very careful when crossing the street. Most people go without a helmet on motorcycles, and sometimes bring their spouse and/or children!
The next day, I got an email from our liaison saying that the fire was about 200 meters from his neighbourhood and the people there were quite scared indeed! Everything in our liaison's house got covered in black ashes. Even at our place, a layer of ash lay over everything.
So Sunday was not the greatest day, and I felt like I got off on the wrong foot with the Couchsurfers I met. It was a really strange day, and I don't even really enjoy talking about it. So I will end it here. Moving on... :)
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