Ecuador: Things to Remember

Helados: homemade ice cream, frozen in a cup and with a stick.. soo good, so refreshing, and Ecuadorians love them.

Brightly coloured shawls, dresses and clothing.

Hats: pork pie or pananma, could Justine pull one off in Canada?

Voicanoes: brooding silently and not so silently... a different way of life.

Markets: Fabric colours, yarn, people, smells, food, bag of oranges for 50cents..

Bus stations: so easy to get on and off.

Bus Food Vendors: Why leave the bus when vendors will board the bus, sell you what you need (chicken on a stick, icecream, chips, gum, water, beans in a bag etc) and hop off at the next stop, or even when the bus isn´t stopped.

Pigs: Always squeeling, always ornery, so funny and so fat.

Menu del Dia: aka Almuerzos... when you can find it, always a different soup, always filling, sometimes making you sick... the chance you have to take for some good eats

Panderias: The bread always smells and looks to good.. and never really is.

Touts: Always in your face, not always telling the truth about their bus... but if you aren´t going with them, they will tell you correctly who can take you there...

The kids: as babies, we have seen hardly any cry. They entertain themselves with next to nothing. Those that are in school wear uniforms, and are out by 1:30pm. Those that can´t afford to go to school work...and work hard whether in the fields, at the markets, or selling whatever they can.

The Mighty American Dollar: can you ever get away from it. It makes a developing country seem quite expensive.

Cell phones: They are everywhere...you see a person in what looks like traditional dress and suddenly their pockets begin a Bethoven melody.

Phone Cabanas: if you can´t afford the cell phone, there are phone stores on every block. Kind of like Starbucks in Canada.

Music: nothing like flying down the road in your bus with pop Ecuadorian music blarring!