Crossing the Street

As we were walking down the street after an English class, one of the students said to me, “My English teacher told me that in the United States cars stop for people.” I said, “Yeah, in Canada too!” He was incredulous. If you have travelled at all, you will know that only in North America do pedestrians have the right of way. This has taken some getting used to, and crossing the street is still one of our daily challenges!

Since we are here short term we don’t have a vehicle as most of the long term missionaries do. Not only that, but we live in a fairly central location and really have no need for a vehicle. Consequently, we have been walking everywhere we need to go: to school, to church, to Supermaxi, to the market. This then, involves crossing many streets. You really wouldn’t think it would be that difficult.

Many of the streets are one way and some of the intersections have traffic lights. This doesn’t necessarily make it easier since there are no lights for pedestrians. In Canada, if the light is green, you go and trust that if any cars are making a left turn they will wait for you. Here you have to first look in all directions to make sure no cars are going to turn down the street you are about to cross. With no posted speed limits, they can sometimes seem to come out of nowhere. Streets without traffic lights usually have a stop sign. In Canada, even if a car is approaching, you know it’s safe to cross because they have to stop. Stop signs don’t seem to have the same meaning here. It’s more like, honk your horn and go.

One must also be careful of oncoming cars turning right onto the street you want to cross. Signal lights were a great invention but are not to be counted on here. Dave and I stand on the corner watching the traffic go by and one of us will say, “Okay, after that taxi.” The taxi is almost at the corner so one of us (usually me) starts out into the street, only to hear Dave say, “No, he’s turning!” By then it’s too late to turn back so I sprint across. Dave is still on the other side of the street, laughing. In fact, we have laughed at ourselves many times.

We have found that it’s easier (and safer) to jay walk halfway between intersections. That way there is enough time to cross even if a car comes around the corner. If the traffic is piled up waiting for a light it’s safe to walk between the cars. However, you have to check to see that the light is still red, otherwise the cars will start moving. You needn’t fear that you will stop traffic if you step out onto the street when a car is coming like you would at home. In fact, you need to step out before the car is there in order to have enough time to cross before the next car gets there. We are learning this as we watch the locals.

As the days and weeks go by, we are slowly getting the hang of crossing the street. But it seems that every time we think we’re getting pretty good at this, a car comes out of nowhere and we have to make a run for it. As long as we stay focused and alert, we’ll be okay!

Life with Lily

Upon our arrival in Loja we were fortunate to be able to move into the apartment of a family on furlough to the United States this year. The apartment came complete with furniture, linens, dishes, food in the cupboards, and a pet cat named Lily. We found out very quickly that Lily is no ordinary cat.

Lily was obviously used to having the run of the place. I guess we’re just not as tolerant as her owners and we didn’t approve of her jumping up on the table and the counter in the kitchen. Luckily all of the rooms are separate and have doors that can be closed. It’s a bit of a pain opening and closing doors when carrying dishes and food from the kitchen to the dining room table but we’re getting used to it. If a door is left open, Lily is quick to sneak into the room. She can also open cupboard doors and hide inside.

Lily is an escape artist. The first time we left her at home we came back to find her outside. The door was closed and locked. The only way she could have escaped was through the “skylight”. This is a rather amazing feat, considering it’s about 12 feet from the floor. We’ve never seen her do it but we imagine she jumps onto the washer, then onto the water heater and then another 5 feet straight up the wall to the edge of the skylight. There is a significant hole at the side that she can fit through. So far she has not come back in that way. Every night we hear the crash as she goes out and then she meows at the door at some time during the night to be let in. Sometimes she goes out more than once a night.

A few days ago we had been out in the evening. We came home and Lily did not meet us outside as she usually does but we could hear her meowing behind the door. As we got closer to our door we realized it was our neighbour’s door that she was behind, not ours, and our neighbour lady wasn’t home. How she got in there we’re not sure. We’re hoping she hasn’t discovered another way in and that it was through the open door when no one was looking.

Lily is not a friendly cat. For a while I thought we were coming to an understanding and were beginning to tolerate each other. Things have recently gone the other way. We have begun to let her come into the living room when we are there, mostly because she makes a fearful noise when she wants to get in, and I was starting to feel a little sorry for her, being confined to the hallway. (It really isn’t that bad. She has food and water and a towel to sleep on and, of course, the skylight to escape through.) In the morning when we are sitting down to drink our coffee, Lily likes to jump up on my lap. She starts to purr, but then starts digging her claws into me and biting on my clothing. If I try to push her away she jumps at me and bites my arm. I’m glad I’ve always been wearing long sleeves, or I’m sure she would have left a pretty good mark. Needless to say, I’m a little wary of her now and rather than have her climb into my lap I stand up to drink my coffee. Once she’s in the room, it’s not easy to get her out. She has a rather demonic look to her sometimes which makes her more than a little scary.

About three weeks ago Lily got sick. She didn’t eat for three days and was getting very lethargic. I was afraid we’d lose her, mostly because she’s not our cat. And when she was sick, she wasn’t so bad. Dave’s biggest worry was how to dispose of the body if she didn’t pull through. But after three days, she started eating again, and going out for her nightly prowls.

Lily does have at least one redeeming quality. There is apparently an abundance of rodents in Loja. Whether it’s because of Lily that we haven’t seen any or not, we don’t know. But if I had to choose between Lily and a mouse, I’ll choose Lily any day.