What I will miss in Ecuador
I started witing this the day I left in my home, then in the airport. Then last Wed. I got home and now I am finishing it at home. I am going to finish up my blog here in Carolina de Sur.
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I am sitting in my room waiting for time to leave for the airport. I am totally ready with hours to spare, and when I get to the airport I will have hours to kill. I am very! excited to be going home.
But there are some things I will miss about my life in Ecuador. Below is a list in no particular order.
1. THE FOOD. Ecuador has more types of fruit than anywhere I have ever been.There is a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables at incredibly low prices. It is cheaper to eat well in Ecuador than to eat junk food. (Chifles by far being my favorite junk food) I will particularly miss the eggs. The eggs are fresh, often with pieces of feathers and various chicken things, and cost 7/$1.00. They are unwashed so do not need to be refrigerated. Eggs with cheap avocados and papayas have made up the bulk of my diet. You can see in the above picture what $3.25 will buy including two papayas. I have always preferred limes to lemon, and lemon is not used often here but limes.. all the time. So I can buy a big bag of limes for little money and add to everything. I will also miss the bananas and plantains. There are about 4 types of each ..and though often I had no idea what I was buying - I really enjoyed it. (Now that I am home - I can tell you shopping for food is a tough adjustment -The eggs I ate in Ecuador were the everyday food - buying the equivalent here is very very yuppie. The grocery stores here are big, with a lot of processed food and it took a couple of days before the whole thing wasn't overwhelming. )
2. THE ANDES. What can I say - the Andes are beautiful and it still takes me aback that someone from my background has lived in the Andes. The image below is one of the many paintings Guayasamin (artist from Quito) did of Quito - and shows Quito nestled in the Andes.
One theory is that the word "Andes" comes from a Spanish word meaning "terrace" as the Incas used terrace farming. I am not sure if the Incas introduced terrace farming when they colonized/conquered Ecuador - or if it was there before but it was beautiful to see.
3. THE CLIMATE. It's a great climate - the coldest is not too cold and the hottest is not too hot. It
reminds me a lot of the Santa Cruz Climate - but with a very strong sun. I thought I knew what a strong sun was, but I had NO idea. One time I went outside to work with my computer when it was in the 60s- and my computer overheated in less than 10 minutes as it was in the sun. The climate is somewhat marred by the frequent UV warnings -when one is warned not to go outside or always be under an umbrella.
4. THE LEVEL OF EXPENSE. It's great when you can get lunch for $3.00, take a taxi for $2.00, a bus for $0.25.
5. LIVING WHERE THEY USE BOTH SIDES OF THE PAPER. Where most things are inexpensive to me, to the average person in Quito, life is expensive. So there is less waste. One common practice is that you use both sides of a paper. So if you have a piece of paper where only one side has been used, you use the other. This is true of people, schools, and companies. The fun in this is if you are given a sheet of paper in everyday life, for example the recipt for my monthly phone payment, you just don't know what will be on the other side. I have gotten copies of people's IDs, letters, etc. Its a lot of fun reading the other side of the paper..
5. HAVING WORK EVERY DAY/LIVING WITH PEOPLE. So back to the struggle to find work, and having to make sure I get out of the house every day and speak to someone.
6. LIVING IN ONE OR TWO ROOMS. Turns out it suits me pretty well.
7. MY STUDENTS. I always taught adults who were showing true dedication and perseverance to take English at night. It reminded me somewhat of the students at Ohio State. They are also a lot of fun.
8. THE CHURCH. Having become Baha'i before I left I was hoping to join that community in Quito. For various reasons it didn't work out and I started going to an English Speaking Church. Though its roots were Lutheran, it was very much an international, interdenominational church . My last Sunday was a baptismal Sunday and 6 Iranian members were baptized. It was truly beautiful. I really loved the church and was made to feel at home there. I only regret I didn't look for an alternative church sooner, as I think I would have found friends and community. Below is a picture of communion at the church. Everyone goes to the front of the church - no real altar- and stands together - and drinks from a common chalice. There is an English service, followed by a German Service
9. THE CHILDREN/THE LACK OF FEAR. I really enjoyed living where there is not fear mongering. It really was an interesting situation for me. I have been watching the fear levels in the States increase at least since the '80s and I think I was aware of this in the '70s. And the US is a pretty safe country. Since I left Fayetteville, (where violence actually was the norm ) I don't think I have known anyone to be a victim of violent crime. In Quito, we were often surprised at the violence our students had seen. I remember one exercise a teacher did where you answered questions such as When was the last time you went dancing, etc. and one of the questions was "When was the last time you were terrified" and the answers to this question were eye-opening. That aside, there is not an atmosphere of fear. And one of the results of this there are small children running around all over the place. It is not unusual to be in a store and look down and see a baby crawling around your feet while the parent is in the next aisle. Small children play on sidewalks alone, they are often the children of store owners who are down the street minding the store. Most of the native English speakers I am around are in their early 20's and do not remember when young children walked through stores and in neighborhoods on their own. They attributed this as a different attitude towards children - "Children are for everyone" , but I always saw it as the absence of a belief of child kidnappers around every corner.
10. THE REGULARITY OF DAY/NIGHT. I did not anticipate missing this. but in Quito daylight starts around 6:30 a.m. and ends around 6:30 p.m. day in day out 24/7 365 days/year. I really liked that routine. I love the sun, so generally I always thought of myself as liking long days.. but I loved the regular days.
11. BIG WINDOWS YOU CAN LEAVE OPEN ALL THE TIME AND NATURAL LIGHT. I was always breathing fresh air as my window was always open.. And until 6:30 my room was lit by the sun. At high altitude there were no bugs - so it once again was like Santa Cruz -open windows with no screens.
12. Dollar coins. Ecuador uses U.S. money, but it is rare that you see a dollar bill, dollars are almost exclusively coins.
Sometimes the coins are Ecuadorian but generally they are from the US and the
Sacajawea coin is by far the most common. Many of the Ecuadorians I knew assumed this was an Ecuadorian coin with a picture of an indigenious woman. I grew accustomed to dollar coins and currently prefer them. Not sure why because they are really heavy.
And that is what I anticipate (or found) I miss most about Ecuador!
______
I am sitting in my room waiting for time to leave for the airport. I am totally ready with hours to spare, and when I get to the airport I will have hours to kill. I am very! excited to be going home.
But there are some things I will miss about my life in Ecuador. Below is a list in no particular order.
 |
| $3.25 worth of fruit from market across the street from me. |
1. THE FOOD. Ecuador has more types of fruit than anywhere I have ever been.There is a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables at incredibly low prices. It is cheaper to eat well in Ecuador than to eat junk food. (Chifles by far being my favorite junk food) I will particularly miss the eggs. The eggs are fresh, often with pieces of feathers and various chicken things, and cost 7/$1.00. They are unwashed so do not need to be refrigerated. Eggs with cheap avocados and papayas have made up the bulk of my diet. You can see in the above picture what $3.25 will buy including two papayas. I have always preferred limes to lemon, and lemon is not used often here but limes.. all the time. So I can buy a big bag of limes for little money and add to everything. I will also miss the bananas and plantains. There are about 4 types of each ..and though often I had no idea what I was buying - I really enjoyed it. (Now that I am home - I can tell you shopping for food is a tough adjustment -The eggs I ate in Ecuador were the everyday food - buying the equivalent here is very very yuppie. The grocery stores here are big, with a lot of processed food and it took a couple of days before the whole thing wasn't overwhelming. )
 |
| Chifles or fried plaintains. |
 |
| Quito by Guaysamin ( one of many color studies) |
 |
| TERRACE FARMING IN ANDES |
reminds me a lot of the Santa Cruz Climate - but with a very strong sun. I thought I knew what a strong sun was, but I had NO idea. One time I went outside to work with my computer when it was in the 60s- and my computer overheated in less than 10 minutes as it was in the sun. The climate is somewhat marred by the frequent UV warnings -when one is warned not to go outside or always be under an umbrella.
4. THE LEVEL OF EXPENSE. It's great when you can get lunch for $3.00, take a taxi for $2.00, a bus for $0.25.
5. LIVING WHERE THEY USE BOTH SIDES OF THE PAPER. Where most things are inexpensive to me, to the average person in Quito, life is expensive. So there is less waste. One common practice is that you use both sides of a paper. So if you have a piece of paper where only one side has been used, you use the other. This is true of people, schools, and companies. The fun in this is if you are given a sheet of paper in everyday life, for example the recipt for my monthly phone payment, you just don't know what will be on the other side. I have gotten copies of people's IDs, letters, etc. Its a lot of fun reading the other side of the paper..
5. HAVING WORK EVERY DAY/LIVING WITH PEOPLE. So back to the struggle to find work, and having to make sure I get out of the house every day and speak to someone.
6. LIVING IN ONE OR TWO ROOMS. Turns out it suits me pretty well.
7. MY STUDENTS. I always taught adults who were showing true dedication and perseverance to take English at night. It reminded me somewhat of the students at Ohio State. They are also a lot of fun.
8. THE CHURCH. Having become Baha'i before I left I was hoping to join that community in Quito. For various reasons it didn't work out and I started going to an English Speaking Church. Though its roots were Lutheran, it was very much an international, interdenominational church . My last Sunday was a baptismal Sunday and 6 Iranian members were baptized. It was truly beautiful. I really loved the church and was made to feel at home there. I only regret I didn't look for an alternative church sooner, as I think I would have found friends and community. Below is a picture of communion at the church. Everyone goes to the front of the church - no real altar- and stands together - and drinks from a common chalice. There is an English service, followed by a German Service
 |
| Communion at Advent-St. Nicholas. |
9. THE CHILDREN/THE LACK OF FEAR. I really enjoyed living where there is not fear mongering. It really was an interesting situation for me. I have been watching the fear levels in the States increase at least since the '80s and I think I was aware of this in the '70s. And the US is a pretty safe country. Since I left Fayetteville, (where violence actually was the norm ) I don't think I have known anyone to be a victim of violent crime. In Quito, we were often surprised at the violence our students had seen. I remember one exercise a teacher did where you answered questions such as When was the last time you went dancing, etc. and one of the questions was "When was the last time you were terrified" and the answers to this question were eye-opening. That aside, there is not an atmosphere of fear. And one of the results of this there are small children running around all over the place. It is not unusual to be in a store and look down and see a baby crawling around your feet while the parent is in the next aisle. Small children play on sidewalks alone, they are often the children of store owners who are down the street minding the store. Most of the native English speakers I am around are in their early 20's and do not remember when young children walked through stores and in neighborhoods on their own. They attributed this as a different attitude towards children - "Children are for everyone" , but I always saw it as the absence of a belief of child kidnappers around every corner.
10. THE REGULARITY OF DAY/NIGHT. I did not anticipate missing this. but in Quito daylight starts around 6:30 a.m. and ends around 6:30 p.m. day in day out 24/7 365 days/year. I really liked that routine. I love the sun, so generally I always thought of myself as liking long days.. but I loved the regular days.
11. BIG WINDOWS YOU CAN LEAVE OPEN ALL THE TIME AND NATURAL LIGHT. I was always breathing fresh air as my window was always open.. And until 6:30 my room was lit by the sun. At high altitude there were no bugs - so it once again was like Santa Cruz -open windows with no screens.
12. Dollar coins. Ecuador uses U.S. money, but it is rare that you see a dollar bill, dollars are almost exclusively coins.
Sacajawea coin is by far the most common. Many of the Ecuadorians I knew assumed this was an Ecuadorian coin with a picture of an indigenious woman. I grew accustomed to dollar coins and currently prefer them. Not sure why because they are really heavy.
And that is what I anticipate (or found) I miss most about Ecuador!
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