I've been trying to find the internet for three days, and now, on day four, I've finally succeeded. The internet cafés are closed on Saturdays as well as Sundays, and yesterday there was no internet in the city. Yes, I wish I was kidding. I went to three cafés and halfway across town, being told at each one that "It's not working today." Really!!
Some random notes on life in Ecuador…
Flashing the headlights of your car means the opposite here as in the US. Back home, if you see that, it usually means “Go ahead, I’m feeling nice today.” Here it means “Don’t even think about it, I’ll run you down and enjoy doing it." I also learned that they call bad drivers "camarones," which means shrimp.
Contrary to what you probably think, the coffee here is complete crap. I haven’t seen any coffee anywhere that’s actually made with ground coffee beans; it’s all that instant Nescafé from a jar. My mom here uses decaf instant, and I have to wonder…what is the point? Not only does it taste like the underside of an old bus, it doesn’t even wake you up.
Peluqerias, panaderias, and Movistar/Porta stations are insanely common here. That means you can get your hair done, eat some bread, and recharge the minutes on your phone about every thirty feet. My mom tells me that most of the hairstylists are gay men, but I haven’t actually seen that for myself, so it’s still a rumor.
There are some places in the US that won’t change $50 or $100 bills. Here, most places have a hard time changing $20s, and some refuse entirely. That’s understandable, given that a taxi to most places within the city is $2 or less, but as an American who showed up with a wallet full of $20 bills, I’ve made myself most unpopular in several places.
Private homes seem not to have printers. There are copy/print shops everywhere, and I’m not the only person to routinely walk in with a thumb drive and ask to have a file printed. It’s only .04 a page at the right place, though.
The one thing that isn’t common is instances of the post office. I had to walk about forty minutes to find the post office on Saturday, and when I got there, it was closed, so I walked back home, letter in hand.
All the houses here are behind walls and gated gardens, and you have to have the key to let yourself out as well as in. This means that on that morning when you’re not paying attention and you walk out without your keys, you have locked yourself in the garden with no way in or out. That’s when you hope the maid can hear you knocking on the front door…yes, this is the voice of experience talking.
P.S. Note from a day later: I have managed to find good coffee! There’s a shop right across the street from the school that has awesome coffee and desserts. Things are looking up on the food front.
Good coffee:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_1290.jpg
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2 comments:
Well, you can't say you're not getting your exercise. Isn't it nice to be where you can walk and take public transportation instead of having to drive everywhere? With transportation so cheap, what's the price of gas? A lot less than here in the US, I'm sure.
Even if it's not exciting, I'm still ready to try cuy myself. The little critter in your photo doesn't look as good as the ones we saw in the open air market. You can't increase the amount of meat on one, but you can cook it better. Yours looked a bit pallid.
I'm unfamiliar with cedron. I think you've had something similar, if it tastes familar. Is it bitter?
The reason they drink that crummy instant coffee is the same as in Mexico - they export it. Que lastima!
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