Never show up late for a party.
As I said in my first blog it is customary to greet everyone with a little “beso” on the right cheek whether or not you know them. Women give the beso to both men and women. Men give the kiss to women but shake hands with other men. If you fail to greet someone they will notice and ask why you have ignored them. It does not matter if there are 20 people in the room and you only know five of them, you must walk around and greet each and every person upon arrival. It is best to arrive early that way everyone has to come to you.
Ecuadorians in general have been some of the warmest most welcoming people I have ever met. I think this custom might have something to with this openness.
Everything will get done… tomorrow.
Ecuadorian time is a lot different than what I have become used to growing up in the United States. Punctuality is not as important. If someone says they will be there at your house in ten minutes, expect them in half an hour or more. Plans are sometimes cancelled at the last minute without explanation. When you ask someone to do something, like call a repairman to fix your refrigerator that has been broken for the past week, it is common to hear the following response, “Hoy? Hoy no… mañana.” If you are in a time crunch it is best to attempt to solve the problem for yourself, however with a little bit of coaxing things always end up getting accomplished. This brings me to my next tip:
Relax.
Don’t worry too much or over think things.
The tropical climate cannot affect you.
When moving to a city where the weather is between 80 and 90 degrees year round I expected to see everyone wearing little sundresses and shorts. I was surprised to find that people here rarely wear shorts. Despite the fact that it is 96 degrees and humid it is not uncommon to see someone wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt.
In fact the school uniforms that my students wear are glorified sweat suits. I will be standing in front of my class, my face bright red, constantly wiping the sweat off my brow and guzzling water only to see 25 happy faces sitting in front of me with their sweat shirts on and fully zipped. When I tell them to take off their jackets and that it is too hot to be so bundled up and they respond by telling me that they are not hot and that they prefer to keep them on.
Use the words “chevere” and “chucha” often but do not confuse them.
The word chevere is a slang word that is used in the same way that Americans use the word “cool.” Chucha is the most common curse word of the area. Like most swear words it has a lot of different meanings. I think it can be most directly translated to mean “shit.”
Driving is a sport. You must play offense and defense.
There are very few rules of the road that are actually followed here. Traffic not moving fast enough for you? Make your own lane by squeezing between the two existing lanes of traffic. The stop light is red? Pause long enough to take a quick glance and then simply honk your horn or flash your lights and drive right through it. Took the wrong exit? No problem! Turn on your hazards, throw that car into reverse and back your way through the oncoming traffic. You have three children to bring home but only have a motorcycle and single helmet? No worries. Pile them all on, just make sure the smallest child gets the helmet. In fact I have not seen a single child safety seat since I have been here.
As long as the doors of the car close you are allowed to have as many passengers as you would like in your car (this helps keep taxi prices low). I once shared a small Chevy two door car with 8 other people, three sat in the front and six in the back. If you really want to transport loads of people, invest in a pickup truck. As long as everyone can fit at least one leg in the bed of the truck you can have as many people back there as you like.
I think the only real rules of the road are to use your horn as much as possible, and call everyone who is not as good of a driver as you a “camaron” or shrimp in English.
Shop until you drop.
It is not uncommon for people at the grocery store to load their cart full of all sorts of food and goodies and then decide at the check out that they only actually want to purchase about half of what they have placed in their cart. They shuffle through their lot choosing only the best items to place on the belt. Once they have selected the best of the best they simply push the now half full cart off to the side. Soon enough a store employee comes to collect the abandoned carts reshelves the unwanted items.
Be aware that eye contact is a binding contract.
Whether you are stopped a traffic light or walking down the street, there always seems to be someone trying to sell you something. From cell phone chargers, to fruit, even globes you can find almost anything you need being sold by a local vendor. Unless you are serious about making a purchase, avoid eye contact. If a vendor sees you looking at them they will march right up to you and do everything in their power to make a sale. After a few repetitions of “no gracias” they will eventually leave you alone, but a few tend to shoot you a very dejected look as they walk away. It still makes me feel a bit guilty every time.
Barcelona or Emelec? Pick one and never wavier.
Barcelona and Emelec are the two major soccer teams in the area. You must like one of the two, but only one. Among the people I have meet Barcelona seems to me the more popular choice, but that does not mean that supporters of Emelec that I have met lack passion. I have yet to make my choice. I need to do a bit more research. Right now, without knowing anything about the teams or soccer in general, I am leaning towards Emelec just to be different. Plus I think I would look better in a blue jersey than a yellow jersey. 😉
Don’t forget to pack your dancing shoes.
Ecuadorians love to dance and seem to be naturally good at it. I don’t know if it is something in the water or if it is in their blood, but they definitely have a serious knack for dancing. They will dance straight until bar close without ever taking a break. They never miss a beat as the sweat pours off them. It is a passion that I admire. As a very, very white Wisconsin girl with no rhythm my attempts to keep up have naturally failed. My only redeeming moment was when the Macarena came blaring out of the speakers at about 2a.m. I killed it.
MJ in Ecuador 