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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: LWAN: Return to Ecuador 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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#8. To: Neil McIver (#0)
I hear badeye is meeting with you for personal pleasure and adventure, humming along.
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