The World as Seen from a Taxi

Here is a poem that I wrote.

The Diary of Mister Clean and Mother Earth

Sunday, June 15, 2008.
Today, Mister Clean and Mother Earth rode
through Quito on a motorcycle.
Mister Clean swerved to avoid a mush of
vegetable skins, dirty diapers, and other indiscernible daily detritus
that had spilled out of a bag and into the street.
With practiced ease, Mother Earth nursed the infant she held between them from her
brown, swollen breast.

We don't do a lot of driving here, but we walk around a lot. And we get in a fair number of taxis and buses. One of the neat things we've noticed is the variety of performers at many of the traffic lights. The performances range from the standard juggling act to the guy dressed in a silver space suit with a painted silver helmet, goggles and shoes who moves like a robot. One day we saw a guy juggling flaming sticks. The other night on the taxi ride home from the bus station, we saw a guy take a swig of diesel fuel (I know it was diesel because I asked him) hold a lighter arms length from his mouth and spit the fuel into the flame.

The fire-breathing guy earned 50 cents from me. The other performers that I have paid have gotten a dime or a quarter - whatever I have. Today, as Maya, Jonah and I walked around the old town, we stopped to listen to two blind guys playing music. One played an accordion and the other a guitar. I don't know what they were playing, some polka, but it sounded pretty good. I had Maya and Jonah each put a nickel in the cup. It sounds cheap, but 12 dimes and you can buy lunch.

I think these street performers actually make out pretty well. Let's say they stand at a traffic light for two hours a day, and that the light turns red every two minutes. If even just one person gives them a dime each time the light turns red, they've made six bucks. You can buy an entire roasted chicken here for six bucks. So, okay, maybe they are living in a box somewhere, but the weather doesn't get too cold and they are not going to starve. They could do a lot worse.

The other interesting thing that is going on at a red light is that folks walk between the cars selling any number of things. Lemons, limes, tangerines, bananas, phone cards, gum and candy, cigarettes, newspapers, magazines, lotto cards, sunglasses, DVDs, cell phone cases, incense, ice cream, and I'm sure I haven't seen it all. You can do almost all your shopping during the four or five minutes that you are stopped at a red light each day. Who needs drive-thru?

Ocassionally, I will see someone begging at a red light. The other day I say a guy with no arms and no legs being pushed in a wheelchair between the cars. He was a young guy too. Made me wonder if he was a victim of the FARC. Rebecca has a flyer that the FARC distributes that has severed limbs on display in it as a warning. I think it is a recruitment flyer.

Often when I am on the Ecovia, a blind person will get on, ramble on for a minute or two about some shit, and then walk the length of the bus taking handouts. Sometimes the blind person will be selling something small like bubble gum or lollipops. Many, many people give change in this situation - whether the person is selling something or not.

One cab driver I talked with told me that the Ecuadorian government does not do welfare. So, if you are jobless or unemployable, you are on your own. Maybe this is why the people have such great compassion for the blind that come onto the Ecovia and the occasional indigenous woman one will see begging in the streets. (Not related, except tangentially, this cabdriver also told me that there is no compulsory education requirement. Kids do not have to go school.)

This same cab driver also told me that the unemployment rate is high. This actually surprises me because I do not see a lot of idle folks during the day. When Rebecca and I were in India a decade ago, there were always lots of men standing around doing nothing. The poverty in India was much more in your face than it is here. Here, as far as I can tell, most folks seem to be working during the day. Sure, some are riding a bicycle around the park selling ice cream and I'm not sure how much that could possibly pay, but at least it's a job.

The cab driver also told me that if he worked six days a week, ten to twelve hour days, he could make $1,000 a month. We've become friendly with a ex-pat named Keith who moved here five years ago. Keith says that you can live here very comfortably on $4,000 a month. Keith estimates that between $30,000 to $40,000 grand a year will do you well here. The biggest expense, he says, is educating your kids (he has two). The cost of a good private school will run you around $4,000 a year, per child.

We met Keith and his wife Layla like this. A few weeks ago, Maya and Jonah were invited to Keith's younger daughter, Mei's birthday party. Mei turned six. We got invited to the party because Rebecca works with Ibeth, Mei's aunt. When Maya, Jonah and I got to the party we found out that Ibeth comes from a very wealthy family. The house she lives in is three connected town houses. Keith, his wife and daughters live in one. Ibeth and her parents live in another, and Ibeth's brother, sister-in-law and two daughters live in the third. There is also an indoor/outdoor heated pool. While everyone was outside doing party related things, I snuck around the place taking pictures to show Rebecca (it was a daytime party. Rebecca had to work.) I can't post them right now because Rebecca has our pictures at her office. But I will. The place was over the top.

Mei and her sister Kayla were really extraordinary in being kind and friendly to Maya and Jonah at the birthday party. And they all got along really well. The kids visited again yesterday and I think will probably get together again before Mei and Kayla go on a month-long summer vacation to Asia later in July. That would be totally cool with me because I'd get to sit around this beautiful house and yard, watching the DVD of the Eagles reunion/money-grab tour and watching Keith smoke cigarettes, while my kids leave me alone and run around and have a great time. And, I might even get to go in the pool.