Okay, okay. I know the word hostage feels a little dramatic, but I’ve seen enough Law & Order SVU that I feel confident in saying we were hostages. We were being held against our will as leverage to push a political agenda by the local fishermen. With flaming barricades. So whatever word you’d like to slap on that statement is fine by me.
Check out my timeline of our mostly peaceful 24 hours. I mean it’s not often you’re held hostage. Might as well blog a dramatic play by play, ya know?
12:05am // Bus arrives at a barricade of flaming debris. Protesters quickly surround the bus and barricade the back so we can’t leave. Chants and whistles can be heard outside. That’s a lot of fire. This seems safe.
12:35am // Our awesome safety coordinator, Gabbie, begins gathering information. I wonder if this has happened before on the Race?
Sometime shortly after // Notified that we’ll be turning our bus off to keep things from escalating to violence. We’re told not to let them know we’re white under any circumstance so we close all curtains and keep our voices to a minimum. Police are coming at 6:00am. Great. You can have all my stuff. I don’t need it. Take me to the nearest Marriott, please.
5:00am // Our original arrival time.
6:00am // Police don’t arrive. Perfect.
8:35am // Police still aren’t here. AIM is notified. We’re informed that the protestors are fishermen protesting commercial fishing and petroleum pollution. They’re using us as leverage to get the government’s attention. I don’t even like fish.
10:00am-ish // Water is running low, heat is scorching, and toilets are overflowing. Feeling super claustrophobic. The Embassy is notified. This is stupid. Protests are stupid. Everything is stupid.
10:30am // Allowed off the bus to get some cooler air. Watch as the fishermen chop more wood to continue burning as barricades. They offer us snacks and water, selfies. I’d rather die of thirst, thanks.
10:40am // Bitter that they’re standing in our bus shade to keep cool. Take me to coffee or send me an email and I might’ve supported your cause. Not anymore.
11:30am // Parents are notified that we’re stuck in a ‘roadblock of peaceful protesters’ and not to contact us. It happens all the time. Nope we are for sure hostages.
11:31am // I text my Momma anyway. We’re fine. Everything’s fine. All smiles here on the side of the highway.
11:40am // Some protesters get angry that a tuktuk is trying to leave. They attempt to flip the tuktuk, add another barricade. Guess that’s why we aren’t trying to make a run for it.
11:42am // The bus is turned back on for A/C and flushing toilets. HOORAY!
3:22pm // Can’t nap any longer. So bored. We still have seven hours to drive. And then another thirteen after that. SOS.
3:54pm // The Embassy is bringing us food!! Welp, they said that three hours ago, but this is brand new news to me so HOORAY!
4:09pm // Police still won’t show. Protesters begin building bigger fires in hopes that they’ll show up. There are zero clouds in the sky, but maybe I can pray for rain.
4:19pm // We moved roughly thirty feet to get away from an escalating situation and group up with the other hostage buses. Apparently every city until the border two hours away has barricades. I’ll take that Marriott now.
5:31pm // Planning to leave and find a hostel. Advised to stay with the bus because headway is being made. Woohoo!
5:34pm // Off the bus grabbing potatoes, asked to get back on because cops are gas bombing barricades several miles from here. Now I feel like a real hostage.
6:37pm // No police yet. No gas bombs. No Embassy. But our squad leaders ventured out and got us sandwiches and oreos. Honestly best (and only) hostage meal ever.
6:45pm // Crowds are clearing and police are still *supposedly* on their way. Still unsafe to venture forward. Are there even police in Peru?!
7:07pm // Bus starts playing War on Planet of the Apes, en español. Gas bombs are thrown in the very first scene. Too real. Too soon. Why they gotta pick a movie like that?! Also is this really a good use of our limited gas supply?
7:41pm // Doors are locked for the night.
11:43pm // 18 minutes shy of 24 hours, we finally start moving. PRAISE THE LAMB.
Obviously had we been in a more stressful situation, or if this had ended differently, this would not be the best blog. But we were safe and at peace with our circumstances because our God never leaves or forsakes us. He reminded me of W Squad’s launch, when we were so frustrated that our flight abroad had been canceled. We were anxious and ready to set out as month one missionaries, but we couldn’t even get on our plane. We discovered later that our plane was damaged. I believe the Lord was saving us from something we couldn’t fully grasp or foresee. And I’d like to think the same again. We don’t know why we were the (un)lucky ones caught by the fishermen’s barricades. We may not ever know why we had to sit for over 24 hours on a bus with nowhere to go and nothing to do. But I trust that the Lord knows what he’s doing. Because despite fearful warnings from the locals about our American presence, despite wearing giant targets on our backs, and despite previous history of these situations turning violent, no one and nothing touched us. And that’s worth praising God for in a silly, dramatic blog.
