I have been asked a bit about the people here, living here and driving here in Ecuador. So in this post, I hope to chat about those topics.
We don't driver here. We chose to do this for many reasons, primarily the laws and regulations can be confusing, and might not aid us if we were in an accident, the cost and maintenance of a vehicle is crazy for the amount for which we would use it, (We live in town, 10 min walk to the city center), and we can hire people to do this and want to do this for reasonable cost. From town center to my house with a load of groceries is a dollar. Seriously.
This fellow is the "truck" driver we use the most. He is a great guy, he shows up on time or earlier, when my partner goes to buy house construction supplies. He keeps teaching us Spanish, he makes sure Rob is paying a reasonable price and not getting ripped off. He has a fun character and loves to chat and make jokes which is a great way to learn Spanish. My husband loves to teach him English but also swear words, why is that the first things you learn in any language? When ever we hire him it is lots of fun and we know we are in good hands.
That brings me to the people of Ecuador. Like anywhere in the world there are good people and bad people. If you come here thinking it will be a social paradise then your expectations are unrealistic. Would you have trusted any Joe off the streets where you came from? Why do you think it would be any different here? I have been hurt by lots of people in Canada so I take those lessons from there and apply them here also. There is a large learning curve to who is who and what are reasonable expectations.
I try to always stay positive but I protect myself from people who are not good for me by trusting my instincts. Those people I will not chat to, or give a cordial nod of acknowledgement or avoid. I did this in Canada and I do it here also. On the positive note, I always try to treat people fairly with kindness. Because of that, and always trying to learn more Spanish, I enjoy living here and have some very nice relationships/friendships with most people.
In general, I find the people warm and kind to the point of fault, but that makes me want to make sure my behavior is up to par, out of respect. For example, if I were walking down the street and did not to say hi to some of the people here, they would be hurt that I didn't. There is a nice social set of greeting and courtesy rules that make for a warm environment, patience being one of the top ones. Those take time to learn. That is the joy is living in a country that is not of your origin it is always an adventure not just a new geography but a social geography as well.
This painting was done on Dewent watercolor paper, A4, homemade gesso, Dr PH Martin hydrus paint, Windsor and Newton watercolor markers and black pen.
We don't driver here. We chose to do this for many reasons, primarily the laws and regulations can be confusing, and might not aid us if we were in an accident, the cost and maintenance of a vehicle is crazy for the amount for which we would use it, (We live in town, 10 min walk to the city center), and we can hire people to do this and want to do this for reasonable cost. From town center to my house with a load of groceries is a dollar. Seriously.
This fellow is the "truck" driver we use the most. He is a great guy, he shows up on time or earlier, when my partner goes to buy house construction supplies. He keeps teaching us Spanish, he makes sure Rob is paying a reasonable price and not getting ripped off. He has a fun character and loves to chat and make jokes which is a great way to learn Spanish. My husband loves to teach him English but also swear words, why is that the first things you learn in any language? When ever we hire him it is lots of fun and we know we are in good hands.
That brings me to the people of Ecuador. Like anywhere in the world there are good people and bad people. If you come here thinking it will be a social paradise then your expectations are unrealistic. Would you have trusted any Joe off the streets where you came from? Why do you think it would be any different here? I have been hurt by lots of people in Canada so I take those lessons from there and apply them here also. There is a large learning curve to who is who and what are reasonable expectations.
I try to always stay positive but I protect myself from people who are not good for me by trusting my instincts. Those people I will not chat to, or give a cordial nod of acknowledgement or avoid. I did this in Canada and I do it here also. On the positive note, I always try to treat people fairly with kindness. Because of that, and always trying to learn more Spanish, I enjoy living here and have some very nice relationships/friendships with most people.
In general, I find the people warm and kind to the point of fault, but that makes me want to make sure my behavior is up to par, out of respect. For example, if I were walking down the street and did not to say hi to some of the people here, they would be hurt that I didn't. There is a nice social set of greeting and courtesy rules that make for a warm environment, patience being one of the top ones. Those take time to learn. That is the joy is living in a country that is not of your origin it is always an adventure not just a new geography but a social geography as well.
This painting was done on Dewent watercolor paper, A4, homemade gesso, Dr PH Martin hydrus paint, Windsor and Newton watercolor markers and black pen.
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