Tonight I opted to join Anna at the opera as she wasn't able to join us on Saturday night. So yet again I donned my best travelling clothes (which include hiking boots since they look nicer than my running shoes) and head to the "almost black tie" opera.
Even though I had seen the Opera before, it didn't disappoint this time. My "date" might have been Anna, but my interest was on tonight's special guest, President of Ecuador Rafael Correa. This surprise guest helped explain why the tiny square outside the theatre had 25 police officers and the bomb squad. It also explained why this guy watching the opera across from me was dressed in full riot gear holding a submachine gun.
The excitement didn't end there. Between scenes a man stepped in front of me and threw two handfuls of pamphlets out into the crowd then left the building. We were all stunned by this, even more so when during the next scene, nine secret service agents swarmed onto our balcony. This posed a slight problem for me. First off I had seen the opera before and found this "police action" more interesting than the play. Second, when people looked to see who threw the pamphlets (we assume against the president) they saw me since the man ran off quickly. So needless to say every time I glanced over (which was more often than an innocent person should) the secret service agents were looking back at me. It could have just been my ego, but I was fairly certain I was the prime suspect for throwing the pamphlets, or they were wondering what I was doing in zip off pants and a rain coat at a black tie affair. (I spent most of that act trying to figure out how to find the number for the Canadian embassy. I figured if I was actually arrested I woudl only have one phone call, so this was a very good use of my time). The police left as soon as they saw me struggling to answer an old man's question about what happened (in Spanish of course). Either that or they had to go protect the president during intermission.
But (as is the way with me) the fun didn't end there. As soon as the police left, the woman who Anna and I thought was with the pamphlet man started walking around asking everyone what was on all the pamphlets, acting quite ignorant about what happened. She told Anna and I she wanted to go to the police and tell them the guy who threw them was sitting behind me (it wasn't the same guy....just some poor sap who chose the wrong time to go to the bathroom and returned at an inopportune moment). She even went as far as to go to the police afterwards and provide a description to the police.
After the show, while Anna and I were waiting outside for Kat, President Correa came out of the building (his secret service agents actually had to move me to make room for him) and shook hands with some people outside, hopped in his car and left the square in a grand show of protection and motorcade of about 20 cars. All in all, Anna and I were quite pleased to have spent the evening in his presence.
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