Now the food... that's interesting. Most people I talk to are shocked to hear when I say that most of the food here in Ecuador is pretty bland. I guess they expect it to be like Mexican food - but remember... this is South America - Ecuador - not Central America and not Mexico. Although the people here speak Spanish, they are Ecuadorian and they cook Ecuadorian - not Mexican. The main dishes they eat are soups, rice, beans (lentils) and chicken. Throw in some fish here and there, some plantains, and occasionally pork and beef. When the food is prepared it is with very little spices and is very very bland. Being honest with you, after being here almost a year we are getting pretty bored with the food choices. Even shopping at the store your choices seem very limited - especially compared to the U.S. We can find some items that have been imported from the states, however, as I have said in past postings, those items are few and far between and they are very expensive - often 3 to 4 times more than what we would pay in the U.S. Therefore we rarely if ever buy them here. We have went to have Chinese food several times at a place within walking distance to where we live and that place is good - but not like U.S. Chinese food. That sounds funny doesn't it - "U.S. Chinese Food". It makes me wonder how the Chinese food in China tastes. Anyhow, the Ecuadorian Chinese food is okay and we tend to order the same thing each time we go there - that way we know what we are getting. We order out for Domino's pizza every once in a while too. When we do that Sam gets a chance to practice his Spanish. He usually does fairly well... and then towards the end of the conversation he gets a little lost in translation... and needless to say they hang up on him - but, we always get the pizza delivered so he must be doing something right. Pizza here is also not like home, but it's good enough to eat. One positive is that I've lost about 15 pounds since arriving here last July. I guess that may have something to do with the food... or lack there of... who knows. :)
We are nearing the end of our first school year here. I must say... I am ready for summer vacation! I am ready to go home and see our family and friends and have some tap water and U.S. food. :)
Living here has some positives as well as some negatives. On the positive side, we are living a much simpler life style. We spend way way way less money - however we make way way way less money too. We do not have expenses like we did in the states... such as car expenses, gas, insurance, food (we ate more in the U.S. and went to the store a lot more too), and we really have no housing expenses here either except for water, electricity, cable and Internet. Those are quite a bit less than what we were paying in the states. So, from that stand point those things are positives. However, we are very far from the U.S. and airplane tickets are not cheap (usually around $1,000. round-trip per person) so it's not like we can just jump on a plane when we get home sick. We also miss camping - which I don't think many people do here, if at all. Maybe only the traveling backpackers. I've never seen a trailer, motor home, or camper here. They do have boats and jet skis - but the recreation is not like at home where people get together and go do things like that - no. They go to beaches and then they rent a jet ski for $20.00 for a half hour... ride it, then that's it. We do miss our camping trips and road trips.
Another positive... we spend a lot of time together... the three of us. We eat meals together - every breakfast and dinner, and then Dan and I usually have lunch together almost every day at school. But, a negative... no dishwashers. From what I hear not many houses here have them - and you can find dishwashing soap in the stores on occasion but not all the time. So... that means I cook and Dan cleans. I will do the dishes on occasion, especially if I am baking or doing extra stuff in the kitchen, but for the most part Dan is the dishwasher. He REALLY misses the dishwasher. :) Sam helps out a little with it, but here you want to be sure that you use really hot water so with Dan doing them we know he is cleaning them right. A positive... we have a great housekeeper one day a week. Her name is Elena and she is wonderful. We pay her $20.00 a day and she does all the floors, bathrooms, laundry, dishes, and anything else we ask her too. She is great. Can't get that in the U.S. for $20.00. She comes to the house when we are at school, and is gone when we get home... and everything is done... even laundry folded and put away or hung up. Awesome. Negative... television. We have on average 4-5 channels that are English speaking. But occasionally some other channels will play some movies in English. Dan misses his sports! We do get some football, basketball and on rare occasion a baseball game - but the games are not always the teams Dan wants to see and they don't show any college sports. We only have one TV - which can be both a positive and a negative. So when Sam is playing his video games we are usually on the computers. Not much to do here in the evenings except go for a walk or bike ride. Now that is another positive... we do walk pretty much everywhere (that is close), and we go for walks quite a bit and bike rides. We did not really do that at home much. I am thankful that we don't drive here though because people drive nuts here, always blowing their horn - driving 3 and 4 cars wide on a two lane road, cutting each other off - AND, several times Dan and I have been walking and people have actually sped up and flashed their lights at us to get out of their way. There is no laws for pedestrians here... the drivers have the right-of-way so you best move out of the way or you will get hit. No kidding. This goes for in the grocery store too. Numerous times I have been shopping and my basket will get run into or people will stop right in the middle of the isle and not move... even after they see me there waiting. I say "pardon" but they just ignore me. I am always moving over out of their way but it is not reciprocated. Weird.
Anyway, living here is a good experience for all of us I think. It's like nothing we have ever done before and it will be something we will never forget. We all learn from our life experiences and I am sure that each one of us will have some pro's and con's to living in Ecuador when our time here is up. Until then... we will just keep on moving on.
Since we returned from the Amazon we have not really done much. School has been keeping us busy with various activities and events. We did make it to the beach - a place called Salinas one weekend which was nice. We stayed at a "gringo" hostel which we really liked and plan to go back there again. Here are some pics...
Enjoy your days... enjoy your nights... enjoy your time with the ones you love the most!
Until next time...
Michelle
