I wanted to give you more insights into life in Ecuador. On this blog, I have had to keep things short to make the posts readable but there are certainly some interesting things about life in this country that are worth sharing.
Toilets – It is standard that the toilet is only to receive the organic material that they are made for. The toilet paper does not go into the toilet, nor do any other things. You have to put your used paper into the bin. In the beginning of course, this is hard to get used to and it seems strange and unpleasant. The reason for this is that the pipes that go from the toilet are too narrow for too much to pass through them so paper causes blockages. As with anything, you can adapt to this and after a couple of weeks it becomes the norm for foreigners as well. :)
Taxis – There are millions of them! Or is seems like that. Even in small places, if you are near a road, you will see a taxi on it. Being a poor country, they are pretty cheap to use but the tip is to ask how much it will cost before you get in because of the obvious exploitation of tourists that can occur. The funny thing about taxis is that, whereas in the UK, I've found out it is now illegal to flag a taxi in the street, the taxis in Ecuador call you. :) It is because of the competition but you will hear the horns beep pretty much whenever a taxi goes past you, alerting you of its service. (Going back to the illegal in the UK thing, I will exercise Gandhi's 'passive resistance' tactic. If I need a taxi and I see one, I will call for it. If the police want to arrest me, go for it. If they try to fine me, I won't pay. Let's use reasoning here... I just want to take a taxi. End of story.)
Children – Probably the most distressing thing I saw in Ecuador was the amount of young children who work in the streets selling sweets, cigarettes, etc. At night, they go around the bars and busy areas and some of them are as young as five. Their parents make them do this to get money for their alcohol or drugs and even though the kids seem and confident about what they do, of course this is something that really shouldn't happen. I gave a dollar to a girl aged about 5 who was trying to sell roses in Guayaquil. She was so desperate to sell them that she tried to stop one man from walking past her. And she was so pretty that it almost made me cry. I just called her over and told her I didn't want a flower, but this dollar was for her.
Houses – A lot of the poor people's houses always look unfinished. They are small buildings made from concrete blocks that have been fixed together but they rarely have windows, and the tops of the walls are not cut to join the sloping roof so there are gaps between them. It looks like they must be cold or crawling with insects but I heard that some people leave them like this because they don't have to pay tax on an unfinished house. ;) Good thinking...
Avoiding being mugged - I managed to escape this completely and didn't have any problems from anyone in this respect. I heard quite a few stories of cameras and bags being stolen but Dan, one of the volunteers had a good idea for when you are out in the evening. Apart from only taking minimal things with you, keep paper money in your sock and small change in your pocket. That way, muggers would see that you do have some money but they wouldn't be able to get much, even if you have $20 in your sock. I did this but fortunately didn't have to deal with the issue.
My other tips for avoiding being mugged is to show confidence - don't look down when passing someone who look suspicious, look ahead or around like you have no troubles in the world.
I'll put some more things on when I remember what I wanted to share with you! ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment