Postcard from Ecuador

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

 

Hi everyone,

 

I am in Ecuador, smack dab in the middle of world and having a wonderful time... ahhhh... researching, yes, that's what we journalists call it.

 

There's so much to say about the scene here: I was full-body scanned upon entering the country in order to determine my health as the AH1N1flu scare is going strong across Latin America.

 

It's been rainy and dreary, and the wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage has eclipsed the presidential corruption scandal (Rafael Correa, whose brother denounced him openly in the media here), the big flu tally in Brazil (74 confirmed), and the mess in Honduras (I'm disappointed the White House Press Office has completely dropped talking about the Zelaya situation in favor of the admittedly critical talks with Russia, the G8 meeting, and this emerging China situation).

 

But my mind has been on other things: So far, I have traveled to the center of the Earth and hopped from the northern to the southern hemisphere, I've traversed several roaring rapids via suspension bridge and base jumped off of one of them - twice. 

 

            

 

I've climbed multiple mountain peaks, scaled several rock faces next to waterfalls, visited a farm, seen Quito's first newspaper printing presses, and eaten lots of cool stuff, though not the cuy (guinea pig) pictured here - my adventurous nature goes only so far. 

 

There's much to talk about but, frankly, this respite from the United States is doing me a world of good. See you sometime next week!

 

-Esther

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Post Script ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

July 15, 2009:

 

I've returned stateside refreshed and invigorated, and just damned happy to be back in the most beautiful city in the world.

 

I didn't go so far as to kiss the ground when I walked out of O'Hare, but I was darned happy to have made it back with nothing more than a few minor bruises from falling 50 feet down the side of a steep volcano cliff into a cold river.

 

   

 

Also, to add to the above list, I rode horse up and down the side of a volcano, traversed several very long rope bridges across angrily roiling rivers swelled from the seemingly constant rain, rode a dune buggy through a busy downtown square (at night), ate shrimp freshly plucked from the sea, threw myself off a suspension bridge (twice) over a rocky river, hiked in the jungle, covered my face in mud and drank mineral water straight out of a puddle in the ground.

 

A few things I learned while in Ecuador:

 

1) The culture is laid-back, like REALLY laid back and if you have a Type-A personality, you'll be a tad frustrated while there. For example, like most restaurants and stores, Mc Donald's doesn't open until 9:30 or 10 am and closes about 12 hours later. Sundays are particularly tough to find anything open.

 

2) There is no such thing as coffee "To Go." And if you want it, let's say, at any time before your food arrives, or during the eating, you'd better ask for it as their custom is to deliver coffee at the very end of any given meal. Consider asking for two at a time if you require more than 4 ounces of regular brew at any sitting.

 

3) Gosh those Ecuadorians love the animated cartoon "The Simpsons"! So much so that they show it many times a day, and several times in a row. The show has become such a consuming passion that today the government is considering censoring it because it is inappropriate for families and may be damaging the populace's brains. Oh, and also, the translation voice-overs are spot-on but when there is singing, the singing is not translated and occurs in English.

 

4) It was my experience that the cities of Quito, Machachi, Ambato, Banos, Guayaquil, and Salinas are gorgeous, very safe, and filled with extremely nice people who are, frankly, just happy you're there to visit. The natural wonders are wonderful indeed...there's just no getting tired of looking at the mountains, the waterfalls, or the wide and diverse variety of stray dogs who seem to troll every street in a friendly, non-threatening way. (They don't, however, respond favorably to cookies as they are so unaccustomed to being offered such, ahhh, domesticated fare).

 

5) There is no shortage of newspapers: broadsheets, tabloids, digests, you name it. There are at least 3 national dailies and several local rags to pick from on any given streetcorner and lest you think that this is because there is no internet, forget it. There are internet cafe's (an hour costs 80 cents) on nearly every street corner as well, and every newspaper has all the social media tools like Facebook and Twitter firing on all cylinders, as evidenced by their mastheads. 

 

So there it is - Ecuador in a nutshell. And what a very deliciously nutty place it is!

 

Comments

[Nick Matyas]

Very good posting. I just love it.
Good work. :)

http://www.webroyalty.com

[Spencer Maus]

Esther,

Terrific stuff. My requirement is for at least 16 ounces of coffee. I may need to bring my own coffee maker.

BTW, run into any Southern U.S. governors?

[George]

Sounds like you're having an outstanding time.