So, we've shared with you a lot about where we've been and what we've done -- now two weeks in -- but we thought we'd take some time today to share some of our observations about Ecuador so far. Here goes, in no particular order:
1). Ecuador is extremely COVID-conscious
Since the moment we landed, we realized Ecuador has treated the COVID-19 pandemic much differently than what we experienced back in the States. Everyone here wears masks -- all the time. In a group, on your own -- you wear a mask. In the city, out on a mountain -- you wear a mask. And we've had multiple vaccination record checks: To get into a shopping mall, to access your hotel, to get into restaurants, to sign up for activities, to enter a supermarket, and more. We've also had our temperature taken in many of these same places. And everywhere -- everywhere -- you get doused with hand sanitizer. We learned that about 90% of the country is vaccinated, which is incredible!
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| Wyatt at a hand-washing station before taking the TelefériQo (an aerial lift) in Quito. [Yes, he really does wear his Eagles sweatshirt every day.] |
2). You don't drink the water
Most likely, you already knew this one. You don't drink the water in Ecuador; you buy bottled water instead (which is super cheap in most places). You use this same water to brush your teeth.
3). Also, you don't put toilet paper in the toilet
You put toilet paper in a wastebasket next to the toilet. Now, in our hotel in Quito, we could put toilet paper in the bowl. But in all our other stays, nope. And in so many other restrooms, there either isn't toilet paper or you have to purchase toilet paper. Best to just stuff some toilet paper into your daypack, like we do!
4). There are a zillion stray dogs
Unfortunately, there really are a ton of stray dogs here. They seem to do all right for themselves, and Taylor and Wyatt certainly delight in the plethora of canines -- although we feel sad they don't have families and homes.
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| Stray dogs on the street in Baños. |
5). Ecuador uses U.S. dollars
Ecuador adopted U.S. currency in September 2000. For more than a hundred years, high inflation had consistently depreciated the country's former currency, the sucre, so that by 1999, Ecuadorian banks went bankrupt. We can pay for things in dollar bills and coins, but we have received some Ecuadorian coins back that just won't work in the U.S.
6). American songs are played all the time
But they're remixes, and they're starting to get on our nerves. ;) Seriously, we hear American songs all the time in restaurants, shops, hotels, and walking down the street. It seems only in taxis do we hear Ecuadorian/Latin music.
7). The economics don't make sense
Tim needs to write a separate blog post on this subject, but -- and this is a massive generalization -- we don't understand how people make money here. When you drive down a street or a highway, you see sidewalk vendors or individual sellers selling the same exact things. They're selling drinks or food (the same kind of food) or car wipes or a creamy dessert. All of them. There's no differentiation. When we were in Baños, and confronted with an overwhelming amount of eatery options, there was no differentiation -- everyone was selling chicken and rice or pizza or bread or ice cream; every place was the exact same...just different décor inside. I'm not doing this topic justice, by any stretch (hence why Tim needs to write his own blog). But it's fascinating and confounding to us -- how do people make enough money to keep their business going and live life?
There you have it -- our observations after two weeks in this beautiful country. If you've got thoughts (or answers, especially to the economics topic!), please add a comment below.
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