a coooooo

Hi there
We are just fine. I have received a few e-mails in regards to our safety. Being in this little town is better right now. Apparently the president decided that the military and the police needed a cut back in wages. Not a smart thing to do when they are the ones keeping you safe and you citizens somewhat safe. I have not seen whether Correa is still the president today but we will know in the next several days whether he is or not. Ecuador has had 12 presidents in the last 10 years with Correa being the longest on the seat. I understand that it is a kind of pass time to bet on how long the president will last......
I understand that in the larger cities of Quito and Guyaquil there has been looting and that they had closed the airports. In the news that everyone is playing in the streets, they had done the traditional form of protest by burning tires in Puyo. I don't quite get this action because all it does is pollute the air and create a big hot fire.......
For a while we noticed there were no police in the streets and then after a short time they showed up again. The banks and schools had closed and apparently, that is the norm for this kind of action. As a rule there is always police at the schools or in their areas. They should really do this in Canada too to help keep out the drug dealers from selling to the kids. The banks here always have security guards posted and they are usually ex-military, so they were present when the banks were closing.
All we did was increase lock down and security in the house and had the pepper spray and tazers at the ready. Apparently, pepper spray and tasers are illegal, but you can always buy them. I bought the pepper spray in a large outlet store much like home hardware, and they were blatantly on display at the front tills. So, I guess it is not that illegal..... Anyway, we slept well and woke up a little bit tired. It was very quiet in the streets last night.... so there you go. As we were walking in the streets yesterday during the day, when I asked everyone they all said the same thing "no pasa nada" and have a great big smile, as to say it was a big joke. That is the answer for living here in Ecuador.
Be kind to each other....
Robin