Surasi for President!

Yesterday morning I was in my house, figuring out a new lesson plan because classes were canceled the day before due to a bus strike, when I got a call from my WorldTeach supervisor.  She informed me that there were some disturbances in Ecuador and that all of the volunteers were advised to remain in their houses until further notice.  That message seemed strange to me because where I am living it was very quiet, and although I hadn't left the house yet that day, everything seemed normal.  When I asked my host mother about it she filled me in that the police force had went on strike due to a supposed government plan to alter their benefits.

I called the other volunteers in my city to relay the message and one of them who had already went to school and returned home reported that the bus he was on had to take an alternate route because the police were causing a disturbance and blocking the streets.  A couple of hours later I passed by my host father who was watching the news and he told me that the president had been kidnapped by the police.  What made everything even more bizarre was how nonchalantly everyone in my house was taking the news.  I walked into the kitchen and told my host mother that the president was kidnapped.  She let out a concerned gasp, but then continued washing the dishes.  I would later find out that "kidnapped" is a strong word to describe what happened to the president (he was in a building and unable to leave because it was surrounded by protesters) but still, if that happened in the U.S. I feel like everyone would be glued to their T.V. until the situation was resolved.

From what I understand the following is what happened yesterday.  Early in the day the police force went on strike because they were under the impression that their benefits would be reduced (the government claims that this is not true and that the police had misinterpreted the legislation).  In Ecuador's major cities, the police were causing all kinds of drama like burning tires and trees in the streets and blocking off major roadways.  They even took control of the airports and flights were not coming into or leaving from Ecuador for a while. 

The president, Rafael Correa, went to the police station to talk the protesters down and he was assaulted and tear-gassed.  He had to be taken to a hospital for treatment, and it was in that building where he would be held unwillingly for most of the day.  At one point he got hold of a microphone, leaned out a window, and gave a speech in which he challenged the police protesters to stop hiding like cowards and come out and kill him if they wanted to.  If there is one thing I learned from this ordeal it is that Rafael Correa is a G, because that speech was awesome.

Later that night the military removed Correa from the hospital and brought him back to the (disconcertingly under-protected) Presidential Palace, where he gave a speech to a plaza full of his supporters. 

In the end, there has only been one confirmed death and the country is starting to stabilize again.  The military has re-taken control of the airports and they are in charge of enforcing the law until the police situation is sorted out.  I have been given the green-light to leave my house again, but I don't think I'll be visiting Quito this weekend like I had planned.  I'm curious to see what happens to the police force now and what this will mean for the rest of my time here in Ecuador.

For a while there, when the president was being held in the hospital, it occurred to me (and everyone from home I talked to that day) that there could very well be a job opening in the Presidential Palace in the near future.  I'm not saying that I'm running for president of Ecuador, but it would look killer on a med school application...

Vota por Surasi para Presidente de la República del Ecuador!