Even the Ecuadorians were fed up with the paro by the start of this week. The President finally declared a state of emergency for this province and three others on Wednesday, and the military came in to remove the indians and their rocks from the roads.
I found out about the state of emergency at breakfast, ate my bread rolls and drank my papaya juice, then went to work. Mid morning the bloke in charge came around to tell everyone that there was going to be a protest at the bus terminal here at 2pm, so we should be back in the office by then. I went home and ate my beans and rice. Sonia was watching the news bulletins and fretting about civil war. She actually got up to lock the door in the middle of dinner, like it would stop the 'end of the world', I think were her words. I went back to the office and glimpsed the protesters filing past a few streets down, but it was all calm again by home time.
That evening, a couple of friends came over and saw five armoured vehicles in the block and a half between our houses, but I missed out once again. By 9pm the streets had cleared, because of the rain, and also the curfew that had been called for between 10pm and 5am. I didn't really understand what would happen if you were to be on the street then, but people seemed to take it seriously. My friends went home, and that was it.
Now there are a few soldiers around Ibarra, but everything else is going on as usual. There are rumours about the paro starting again tomorrow, when the negotiations over agriculture are scheduled. Next time, I'll have to get a photo of something more exciting than an ibarra city bus.
