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Title: LWAN: Return to Ecuador
Source:
www.cjmciver.com
URL Source: http://www.cjmciver.com
Published: Mar 25, 2006
Author: Neil McIver
Post Date: 2006-03-25 23:54:49 by Neil McIver
Keywords: LWAN, Ecuador
Views: 172
Comments: 12
I had a sufficiently good time on last year's trip so I've returned to Ecuador. I'm in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city not far from the Pacific coast. Unlike Quito's 2-mile high mountainous climate, Guayaquil is at sea level. The weather here is a typical June by my native Maryland standards with a bit more humidity added in, but I seem more suited to warmer weather even if short pants are not culturally correct in this part of the Latin world. I'm here for another 3 month tour, but plans beyond June are open ended. Ecuador's immigration rules limit foreigners on a passport to 90 days per calendar year so June will find me either in some other Latin country, back in the USA, or working some yet to be determined arrangement. I'm fortunate to be in a position to take such extended trips. Having to adjust to a life without a 9-5 job or loads of debt (read: without an SSN) does have it's perks. The comparatively low cost of living here certainly helps as well, with decent $2 dinners and cheap pineapples, mango's and other assorted fruits (some strange) available daily within blocks. My furnished apartment is fairly nice and in the states would probably cost me at least twice what I'm paying here. Cable internet is available but slow and expensive, running $50-125 per month for speeds of 64-256K. I did discover one item about Ecuador bank accounts: Foreigners were permitted to open them until a rule change that took place about a year ago. With that change, only persons with an Ecuadoran ID card are permitted to have bank accounts. This rule is allegedly to fight money laundering from the surrounding countries of Columbia, Bolivia and Peru, and was instituted under pressure from none other than the US State Department. Ecuador is not immune to US pressures. Ecuador does have a national ID card. I'm told national ID cards are pretty much the norm for all South American countries. Please note that I may be splitting my mailing list to separate South America updates from the Life without a Number (LWAN) list since the subjects are largely independent. I'd like people to get info they expect. More info will follow if that happens. Neil McIver Permission is granted to redistribute this email, provided it is preserved in its entirety.
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#6. To: Neil McIver (#0)
Are you running from something or somebody, or do you just really like it down there? I hate what is happening to America, but still wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
I do like it here. People here take responsibility seriously. Their values are really much more "American" than exists in the states. There, people like to think they are independent, but here, they really are. No it's not perfect in all respects. No place is. No, I'm not running from anyone. There's a combination of factors, but I'm here because I can be here. I have the resources to make it possible, and life is not about working any boring routine for 40 years. It's about exploring new things. Have you looked anywhere else? We've all been indoctrinated in schools about how lucky we are to be born in the USA. Is it true?
Well, no I haven't looked anywhere else. As matter of fact I have never even been out of the USA as an adult and only once for a brief time as a child, and that was a visit to Montreal. It would just require more trust than I have in people to live around people who are naturally going to dislike me because I am a white American.
Well, I'm white and I've yet to experience any negative racism. Or positive racism for that matter. I've been well received every where I've gone. To be fair, I do have a dark complexion and no one seems to know I'm a foreigner until I try to say something. Besides, a good portion of South Americans (at least) are of European decent. So if you're a whitey, then you aren't really that far out of your culture. It's not as though the world is flat, and leaving the US means sailing over the edge. Much of the world is civilized, and people live full, regular lives in other countries. There are differences, of course, but some of them are to the disadvantage to the USA. Some of my shots. The first 4 are the city of Ambato. The last is a small section of Guayaquil's "inner harbor" district, called the Malecon:
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#10. To: RickyJ (#6)
Are you running from something or somebody, or do you just really like it down there?
I hate what is happening to America, but still wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
#11. To: Neil McIver (#10)
Have you looked anywhere else? We've all been indoctrinated in schools about how lucky we are to be born in the USA. Is it true?
#12. To: RickyJ (#11)
Well, no I haven't looked anywhere else. As matter of fact I have never even been out of the USA as an adult and only once for a brief time as a child, and that was a visit to Montreal. It would just require more trust than I have in people to live around people who are naturally going to dislike me because I am a white American.
Replies to Comment # 12.