So we're walking along a street in Quito when we come to a pre-protest gathering. Our guide went to ask someone what the protest was about, when suddenly he was accosted.
A woman, presumably American, walks up to him and says loudly, "Metropolitan Touring, you are what's wrong with Quito. I've lived in Quito 25 years and your company is ruining it." Then she went on and on. She is angry about a belief that Metropolitan Touring runs the city council and corruptly convinced the council to close more streets and make them pedestrian walking roads.
She claimed that cars could no longer park in front of small businesses, so I presume she owns a small business. The flip side is my experience with pedestrian streets is that they draw more foot traffic, but what do I know.
The six of us were bewildered for a while. Rodney talked calmly with her, but she just kept on yelling at him. We went from mildly bemused to utterly annoyed at her.
Finally I bellowed at her, "Leave him alone, he's only doing his job." The others joined in, telling her to leave. I gotta believe Rodney does not both own the company (which is quite big in Ecuador) and also takes time to guide six random people around Quito.
I thought about snatching her hat and throwing it, but decided she was so nuts that there was no telling how she would react. After have six Americans defending our guide, she left.
Weirdest encounter with a guide I've ever seen.
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