Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 94: Redemption
May 12, 2006
The car rescue operation had been scheduled to begin at 8 o'clock in the morning. Antonio showed up at our hotel at 8:10AM, this way becoming the most punctual person we have ever met in Latin America.
Straight away all five of us marched to the copy center across the street,
where we received Antonio's first order: to make 4 sets of photocopies of
all the shipping documents, along with the titles of the vehicles and Jeff's
motorcycles, our passports, all the valid and no-longer-valid visas in our
passports, and all the national and international driver's licenses we had
- "just in case!" Each of us then got one of the sets. According
to Antonio, if any three of us lost their sets, there would still be the fourth
one left. In case we managed to lose all four sets of copies, we would still
have the originals, which had been carefully guarded by Dovi.
Now that we know Antonio better and are familiar with his recurring urge to
photocopy EVERYTHING in abundant quantities, we could guarantee that that
morning he found a moment to secretly make the fifth or maybe even the sixth
set of copies - just in case!! However, back then we just obeyed all of his
orders and kept praying for the successful end of the rescue operation.
At 9:30AM two Antonio's assistants were already waiting for us at the entrance
of Puerto Maritimo. They brought seven bright-colored jackets and helmets
(the obligatory safety gear for port visitors), which all of us quickly put
on. At this point, however, our ability to understand what was going on pretty
much ended. What happened during the remaining part of the day for the most
part reminded of a comedy flick in the fast forward mode, starring Antonio,
who was running like crazy from one office to another, talking to hundreds
of officials, requesting permissions, submitting petitions, and giving continual
orders to his two assistants. Our humble role was to be available at all times
(which meant actively participating in the mad race and trying to match Antonio's
pace, which was not always easy!), and make sure there were enough $5, $10
and $20 bills in Antonio's pocket.
Different amount of dollars accompanied every single petition and conversation.
It was quite a memorable experience to watch how swiftly and effortlessly
the little green bills opened all the needed doors, eliminated lines and returned
officers to their work places from lunch breaks or "important meetings"…
By the way, all the services provided by Ecuadorian customs are officially
free of charge :)
Occasionally we would take short breaks from running, and make copies. We kept photocopying stamps and signatures, our own petitions, the copies of the petitions, and the copies of the copies. Since each of us had to have a separate set, every paper was being reproduced four times. Yet, the most memorable moment was still to come. Around noon, when each of the four stacks had reached at least one inch in thickness, Antonio ordered four copies of the entire file again :) No wonder Ecuador is facing a serious deforestation problem!!
Yet, the biggest surprise of this truly unforgettable day came at the end
of it from our redeemer Antonio himself. Late at night, when we finally had
our cars back and were thanking Antonio for the job well done, he suddenly
said "You know, no matter how much you guys hated this system, it is
actually very positive for Ecuador and its people. Chaos and corruption create
new jobs and help people like myself support their families."
Well, as many people as many attitudes… We know some countries that have
found different ways to benefit from tourism, and we somewhat prefer those
other ways to the Ecuadorian strategy…
Click on the pictures to enlarge
|
The rescue team (Jane, Antonio, Jeff and Zee)
Gelbetoju komanda (Jane, Antonio, Jeffas ir Zi) |
The latest fashion trends of Puerto Maritimo...
Pavyzdys is 2006 Puerto Maritimo vasaros kolekcijos. Stilingas salmas puikiai apsaugo galva nuo kartais krentanciu konteineriu! |
...and the latest trends in security
O stilingas sautuvas padeda apsaugoti uosta nuo netvarkos |
|
Welcome to the Containerville!
Renkames konteireri... |
Finding the container and moving it to the inspection area - $70
Labiausiai patiko tas melynas... |
Bribing the inspector - $20
Paziuresim, kas viduje.... |
|
Seeing your car intact - priceless :)
Akiai mielas vaizdelis |
Lets see what you've got in this big blue box.. (Video clip, 4.2Mb)
Tuoj viska patikrinsim ir suskaiciuosim... (Video klipas, 4.2Mb) |
Crane in action (Video clip, 6.2Mb)
Nesa mane kranas!.. (Video klipas, 6.2Mb) |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
94-oji diena: ... o ja issrebti padejo brangusis Antonijus
2006 m. geguzes 12
I 8 val. susitikima Antonijus pavelavo vos 10 minuciu (ir taip tapo punktualiausiu kada nors sutiktu Lotynu Amerikos gyventoju!). Is viesbucio kavines visi kartu nuzingsniavome i kopijavimo centra, kuriame gavome pirmaji Antonijaus nurodyma - visus masinos siuntimo dokumentus keturis kartus nukopijuoti ir isrusiuoti i keturias kruveles. "Del viso ko" kopijavome taip pat ir pasus, juose esancius puslapius su galiojanciomis ir nebegaliojanciomis vizomis ir tautinius bei tarptautinius vairuotoju pazymejimus - viska po keturis kartus. Tada kiekvienas gavome po viena kruvele (t.y. kruva) kopiju - jeigu kurie nors trys savaja pamestumem, dar liktu ketvirtoji. Jeigu pamestumem visus keturis kopiju komplektus, dar liktu Doviles akylai saugomi originalai :) Dabar, geriau pazinodami Antoniju ir jo reguliarius fotokopijavimo priepuolius, galime garantuoti, kad jis slapta pasidare dar ir penkta kopiju komplekta. Taciau ta ryta tas rupejo maziausiai - saziningai vykdem visus Antonijaus nurodymus, o pakeliui i uosta meldemes, kad vakare jau turetumem masinas.
Likusia dienos dali sunkoka aprasyti, nes, atvirai sakant, patys nelabai suvokem, kas tiksliai vyko. Apie 9:30 val. prie uosto susitikome dar du "agentus" - Antonijaus padejejus; o tai, kas vyko po to, labiausiai primine pagreitinta filma apie beganti Antoniju ir is visu jegu bandancius nuo jo neatsilikti 6 keistuolius, is kuriu 4 aiskiai neturejo nei menkiausio supratimo apie tai, ka daro. Paskui Antoniju, tikraja prasme, begome begte. Leciau begantieji tuojau pat gaudavo ispejima neatsilikti, nepasimesti ir negaisinti brangaus laiko. Tiesa, kartais sustodavom daryti kopiju. Kopijavom pareiskimus, prasymus, prasymu kopijas ir kopiju kopijas, ir viska deliojom i keturias kruveles. Apie vidurdieni kiekvienas jau nesiojomes po du Tolstojaus "Karo ir taikos" egzempliorius, ir tai tebuvo tik pradzia.... Aiskejo Antonijaus taktika - uzversti muitines pareigunus popieriaus lapais ir taip juos priversti kapituliuoti.
Antonijaus kisene turejome reguliariai papildyti $20, $10 ir $5 vertes banknotais,
kuriais jis profesionaliai pagerindavo muitininkams iteikiamu pareiskimu ir
prasymu isvaizda. Graudziai juokinga buvo stebeti, kaip zalieji popiereliai
atidaro bet kurias duris, sutrumpina eiles, grazina i darbo vietas pietaujancius
ir posedziaujancius pareigunus, o, reikalui esant, net pakoreguoja istatymus...
Kada jau atrodydavo, jog atviriau ir izuliau kysininkauti nebeimanoma, sulaukdavom
naujo akibroksto - kaip kitaip pavadinti, pavyzdziui, toki masina inspektuojancio
muitininko komentara: "masina tvarkoj, dokumentai irgi... jokiu problemu
nematau, del manes galite vaziuoti toliau, tik ant sito dokumento dar truksta
vieno antspaudo, kuri tuojau uzdesiu...." - ir, taip pasakes, niekur
neina. Mes irgi stovim, laukiam antspaudo. Uz minutes muitininkas vel sako:
"tuoj nueisiu ir uzdesiu jums antspauda, ir galesite sau vaziuoti...."-
ir vel niekur neina! (??). Tada pribega Antonijus ir pasufleruoja, kad duotumem
inspektoriui 5 dolerius :)
Uz ka kysis, jeigu, anot paties pareiguno, ir masina, ir dokumentai, ir mes
patys jam pasirodeme tvarkoj??? Geriau net neklauskit… Puse dienos dar
bandem sekti, kam ir kokiu tikslu Antonijus dalina musu dolerius, taciau veliau
tik numojom ranka - po Gvajakilio muitine aiskiai reikia vaikscioti ant kaktos
prisiklijavus $20 banknota, nes kitaip net kopijavimo aparato operatorius
apsimes, kad taves nepastebi. Beje, pamirsome pamineti, kad oficialiai visos
Ekvadoro muitines paslaugos - nemokamos :).
Vis tik labiausiai tadien mus sokiruoti sugebejo pats Antonijus, vakare pareiskes, kad si atvira, besaike muitines korupcija, jo manymu, yra teigiamas dalykas - tokiu budu Ekvadore lieka daugiau turistu pinigu, gereja salies ekonomika, o zmonems sukuriamos darbo vietos - jau 20 metu, kaip muitines auku gelbetojo darbas islaiko Antonijaus seima…
Brangusis Anatolijus savo pazada ivykde - 7 valanda vakaro grazinome APLui
tuscia konteineri, ir masinu isvadavimo operacija baigesi. Laimingai? Siuo
klausimu nuomones issiskyre. Antonijus mane, kad taip :)
