The first question everybody asks when they meet a foreigner for the first time is, how do you like Ecuador and what do you think of the people here? And almost always I am tempted to say (like the friend of a friend), beautiful country, awful people. Like I said, there are exceptions and I am not talking about our close friends who have always helped us and supported us.
The general trend is however, dishonesty, not sticking to one´s word, unreliability, being disrespectful etc. From the little things like overcharging foreigners for taxi rides, cigarettes etc. to things like a complete lack of disregard for others (numerous examples, kids´behaviour in school, drivers towards pedestrians, pedestrians towards other pedestrians, people literally running you over and expecting you to get out of the way and if you don´t it´s your own fault and the list could go on and on), confirming one thing and then changing their mind and making you look like the idiot who did not understand everything the first time round, (latest example with the school director now, who has to calculate my hours for the third time and each time they come out different!!!, after already confirmed and trying to pinch minutes at every corner every time, confirming the wrong hours to my employer etc.)
It´s tiring mentally.
But them, the first thing everyone here says is, “oh, we are very friendly people” .. I fail to recognize what they mean..
Another huge contrast is the “religious” upbringing everyone boasts with and talks about. Oh, we are very religious people, we respect everybody, we are nice. How can religious people be all the above and consider themselves religious, Christians?
There is a total misconception and misperception of their own character and their society and individual values. It´s mindblowing. And all in all it just makes for a quite disappointing experience here.
My friend Bogus said it better than me: “My general reflection on your experiences in Ecuador is that it’s quite disappointing that the locals don’t seem to show gratitude to people like you who make an effort to come there and teach… After all, they’re a third-world country, and you leave your comfortable life in Europe to educate them and thus help them improve their standard of living – one would expect them to be grateful and bend over backwards to make your stay there as pleasant as possible, isn’t it?”
Yes, one would expect that… But not from people here..