Never have I ever been robbed on a bus by three men with butcher knives.

Never have I ever been at risk of being stuck in an avalanche.

Oh, wait. I did both of those this week. Let me explain.

I mentioned in my last post that blog entries should be short because 'no one's life is really that interesting.' Unfortunately, mine is, and thus this post has the right to be long.

Tuesday afternoon around 3pm my friend Tyler and I jumped on a bus to Tena, a town (they like to call themselves a city) on the edge of the rainforest, about 5 hours from Quito. This trip was my third to Tena and we were heading to an indigenous community for the next five days to help out with their farm. That was the plan.

Unfortunately in life, and especially in Ecuador, I've learned that things do not always go as planned. A little before 7 and just after dusk (Tyler was dozing off next to me while I jammed on my iPod) a few men starting horsing around in the aisle near us. I thought, 'Really? Is this really the time?' It turned out that yes, it was indeed the time because in fact, they weren't just horsing around. Instead, two men were shoving a third passenger into a seat, right before holding a knife to his throat and asking for money. While one man finished this guy off (and by 'finished off' I mean stole all his money, not killed him,) the other moved on to our seat. It was dark on the bus, and I didn't really grasp what was going on. "Esto es un asaulto!" I faintly heard past my music, and I glanced over in time to see him shove the knife in front of Tyler's face. "La plata! Los teléfonos!' the man shouted as he reached over into my pockets. He grabbed my phone and felt around my legs, finding my iPod hidden underneath me. "Este teléfono también" he growled as he grabbed it, feeling my side for my wallet as he did so.

At this point even a small child would realize what was happening (I was going to say 'even a monkey,' but then I realized monkeys are very intelligent and the monkey probably would have caught on more quickly than I did,) yet I wasn't really that frightened. It was happening so quickly and felt very surreal. As the man took my wallet, a story came to mind- a friend of a friend was robbed by armed men and at the last second she asked if she could have her keys back. So, with a brain that apparently doesn't think through life-threatening situations, I didn't let go completely when the man grabbed my wallet. Instead I yelled at him, "Por favor, necesito mis llaves! Necesito mis llaves!" For some reason he listened and moved back to Tyler, emptying out his wallet, demanding more money. I pulled out a few bills (I'm still not sure exactly how much) and gave it to the man, telling him it was all I had. Now, days later, it's obvious that this was a risky move- he could have found out I had more money and gotten angry, or even just taken my whole wallet regardless. I didn't think of that at the time though, and the men continued down the bus, making other passengers stand up, hands over heads, to be patted down.

After our robber moved on, I still wasn't really scared- even when the men were still on the bus, it was over for me. I just kept thinking, 'Is this really happening right now?' I got a little nervous when the second robber started re-visiting people. What if he found the rest of my wallet? What if he took my bag? Then we heard some shouting in the front of the bus and suddenly- a shot rang out.

At that point Tyler and I ducked down in our seats and I finally felt very scared. We heard some more noise and then the bus stopped (it had been driving this whole time. We think the third man had been up front with the driver.) I watched three men with black ski masks hurry from the bus as we sped away, and fortunately we quickly figured out that the shot was only a noise- the gun had been a cap gun or something similar. A Japanese woman hadn't wanted to hand over her things and they shot the gun to scare her.

After this experience I could not wait to get to Tena, to somewhere I felt safe and settled. Unfortunately, this plan wasn't to work out either.

A short 45 minutes later, we found ourselves stuck in seemingly endless, literally unmoving traffic in the pouring rain. We were told that a recent avalanche, a mudslide, had completely covered the road and no one was able to pass. Apparently they had been trying to clear the road for most of the afternoon, but the job was just too big. The continuous pouring rain didn't help either, as it turned the remaining dirt on the road into two feet of watery mud and kept replacing the mud that had been cleared away.

We moved slowly up the street, and by slowly I mean a few feet every hour, and we began passing busses. The passengers from these busses clambered onto ours, and when we questioned them they told us that their drivers wouldn't drive through the mudslide. Apparently it wasn't safe. Our driver, however, was still willing to cross. Hearing this, Tyler and I worried and wondered aloud if we should stay behind with these other busses. A nearby woman kindly assured us that it was much better to try to pass- if we stayed behind, she told us, it was possible that another avalanche could occur, possibly on top of us. Very reassuring lady, thanks. This thought actually really freaked me out. There was no good option. Apparently it was extremely dangerous to drive through the two feet of mud, with seven feet of wet clay piled high on either side of us, yet it was also extremely dangerous to sit on the side of the road in the pouring rain for the entire night.

Long story less long, after being held up at knife point and sitting in place in front of a landslide for over six hours, we finally made it through to Tena, arriving at about 1:30am.

One of the unfortunate things about the landslide traffic jam was that it gave me a lot of time to think about both of my life threatening situations. While I wasn't so terrified during the robbery, thinking about it afterward made me a lot more uncomfortable and the fact that I was still in immediate danger made me worry even more. We all know that I think too much in general. Needless to say, I didn't really feel like doing community service work, especially in a community that had just been hit by a flash flood and didn't have much farm left anyway. I wanted to continue with the plan, though, because I felt like a wimp not following through. On the other hand, I hadn't been ecstatic about the service work to begin with but had felt I should follow through to step out of my comfort zone. After the events of Tuesday night I had already been pushed further out of my comfort zone than I would have thought possible- this goal at least, had already been accomplished.

This situation made me really miss home and my people back home. The following day, Wednesday, was when I was shakier about the whole thing. I'd had time to really think about what had happened, and the possibility of it happening again. I really wanted to talk to someone from home, but I didn't want to call my parents until I was back in Quito because I knew they would worry more. We ended up heading back to Quito, without incident, on Thursday morning.

I'm glad I'm okay, but still I get kind of jealous now whenever I see someone with their technology. All the Ecuadorians on the bus (all of many years) said that this bus hijacking was a first for them. What are the chances? They've been making this commute for 50-plus years without incident- I make it once, and I get a knife waved in my face. To voice the obligatory timeless complaint: why me?

But, as far as perspective goes, I know that my problems are minuscule. Especially after seeing the site of the flash flood- people lost their stores, all their merchandise ruined, their homes flooded- my loss of two pieces of technology seems like much less.

Unfortunately, I am more suspicious of everyone now. Every time someone looks a little off, a little distracted even, I think- could they rob me? Could they be armed? It's not really a nice feeling. After my trip to Peru, I couldn't believe I had to leave Ecuador in just six weeks, that this chapter of my life would be over. I was feeling pretty upset about it. But thank you Ecuador, you've made it that much easier to say good bye. I'm still so grateful I have five weeks left, I'm still sad about this life-chapter ending, and I know the transition to the states is going to be rough at first, but now I'm that much more ready for it.