One trait that all Ecuadorians seem to share is ingenuity – it’s one of the characteristics I love most about them. They have an uncanny ability to forge through just about any difficulty with solutions that are truly creative, resourceful, and practical. They really know how to make the most use of what’s at hand.
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| Scaffolding |
This is especially true of many housing/road construction projects and car repairs I’ve seen, but also is evident in the many lovely ways their food (“comida típica”), culture and customs have evolved along this Pacific coastline which has been continuously settled for at least 5000 years.* Not to mention their broad knowledge and use of native plants for natural medicinal purposes.
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| The rope in the forground is serving as a temporary speed bump. |
But the thing that tickles me most is how they manage and vie to squeeze as many folks as possible at any given time on one vehicle whether it’s a bus, taxi, or bike. The more affluent families own a motor -scooter and it never ceases to astonish me how many people they can squeeze on one.
From mid-October 2010 until the first of March this year, we sublet a friend’s apartment (east of the Ruta, on the calle de la lavenderia) while our beach house was –for the most part – occupied by vacationers during our busy season. Generally speaking, it was a positive experience because we adored and knew all our local neighbors and liked the barrio, but it was an adjustment, nevertheless.
Most municipalities around here turn the city water off from around 10PM to 6AM (and sometimes for a couple of hours during the day) for conservation purposes. For those who have cisterns (as we do at our house), this is not an issue: water supply is continual and generally these interruptions go unnoticed, unless the electrical power goes out simultaneously, in which case pumping & heating devices are also neutered. 
Then there was another night when I almost blew my head off - Wiley Coyote style -trying to light the unfamiliar propane oven. Seriously, I am still trying to re-cultivate my eyebrows after that experience…. We were never able to take a decent hot shower there during our sojourn; it was waaaaay too small for the both of us; and the weather was crappy, cold, and unseasonably wet. ** We were essentially cooped up together 24/7 for a few months (but everyone around here was feeling that way by the end of November).
The street we lived on was perpetually muddy more often than not…. Almost daily we trudged through the muck (gloppy, sloppy, and slick as snot) to catch a bus, to do a load of wash at our house (outside utility room) a few times a week, and occasionally savor a hot shower at “Big Deck’s” temporarily vacant house (the one owned by my brother Jack, Doug and Pam, and a couple of other partners), or to take Daisy for a walk on the beach.We bickered more than usual over our shared laptop time, whose trash turn it was, what or where to eat, and bathroom courtesies. ..And more often than not, we squabbled about which one of us was working harder to make this “dream” happen, because we were both working non-stop during this time and all too often in miserable moods. My memory of this first “season” here is a blur of turnover preparation and cleaning activity, and Todd’s schedule was even more hectic. We were at least settled into one place for awhile during that time, without having to move around every couple of weeks. But I will admit, during this last Christmas season in particular, I envied my more settled friends who were enjoying snowy holiday traditions with their families.
In many other ways, we loved our time in that triplex apartment. We saw an insane number of new, colorful birds in the more jungle environment (I put bread crumbs on our back wall early each morning to attract them and enjoyed watching them through the window while having coffee in bed), had more opportunity to converse in Spanish, met local people that we might not have gotten to know otherwise, and in general, had the chance to become more absorbed in the local community. And during the better times, because we were living much more simply, without a lot of material encumbrances or the usual taken-for-granted luxuries (like hot showers), we felt kind of like a couple of 19 year old kids sharing our first apartment (cinder block shelves included).
I mean, yes, we love our life here. We live in a tropical ocean paradise (maybe not St. Bart’s, but still, naturally spectacular). We get to meet interesting people from all over the world. We have a wonderful opportunity to immerse into an entirely new culture, and every day is a learning adventure.
But…but I would be remiss not to mention that moving to a different country causes considerable stress on even the best of relationships. Todd and I got married, moved to a new country, and adopted our new daughter Daisy within 30 days, so I suppose our more vociferous quarrels this first year are understandable. And yet, we have learned better how to shrug off the petty, handle with more humor and tolerance the delicate conversations and – this is my favorite – “only one of us gets to go crazy at a time”. ***
* According to most sources I know, but a knowledgeable friend of mine recently mentioned that he had read that possible Pre-Clovis artifacts have been discovered along our coastline.
* * The weather finally began to brighten in mid-December. Locals told us this was the longest, coldest winter in memory.
*** One of my favorite lines from a movie, but danged if I can remember which one.
Hey Leigh,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. When are you guys coming over out way to visit?
I may be sending folks over your way to check out the coast. Are you up for some Q & A with them?