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..
100%.
Such a frustrating people. I get pissed off with them dailly.
daily!
Hello Buffy,
Very well said, yes it’s sad to say this but that’s the way it is.
see what l mean, these people have no foundation so no growth
in a positive way, just shit at different levels.
Cum am mai spus…nu te tenteaza Europa? 😛
Christa,
I am enjoying reading your blog and seeing your point of view on things. While some things are true to an extent, I’d just like to say that every student I ever had and all three families I lived with were always so grateful and appreciative of my time and effort teaching and being a part of their lives. I love the Ecuadorian people and think they are great. Of course their lifestyle and cultural norms are far different from our own, but that’s all about the experience of living and experiencing another culture. Asi es la vida… Anyways that’s enough for now. Hope all is well down there.
-Amy
Hi Amy, glad you had such a positive experience here. Trust me, I am trying hard to see the positive side of things too and so far I can say people I met on the coast are really nice and it will all count towards my “life experience”… Hopefully I´ll have some nice things to report as well before my time here is up. Thanks for reading :).
Hi all,
this week the blog passed the 7000 mark for viewings! Makes for a nice average number per month :).
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy, although lately I have not been in the best of moods.