Reasons I love Ecuador:

I love that there are maps drawn on public walls, that from childhood Ecuadorian youth are taught about their country and its boundaries, and that people in Ecuador have a genuine curiosity for the world and where people are from. This could be in part because of territory disputes with Peru and because of the huge population of Ecuadorians living abroad in the U.S. and Europe.

I love the fact that you can just sit around and chat with people spontaneously—no need to plan a “get together,” you can get together with friends while you walk along the waterfront.

I love the fact that I’m never lonely in Ecuador. There are always good friends and family around to talk with me, entertain me, eat and drink with me.

I love how proud most Ecuadorians are of their country, despite its troubles in politics and economy, they love Ecuador and I do too. Along the same lines, I love how the entire country stops to watch the Ecuadorian national soccer team play. For example, when Ecuador played in its first World Cup in 2002, I was in Ecuador working at the Navy base and classes were postponed or cancelled so staff and students could watch the game! Of course they didn’t tell me that until I had already painfully missed the first part of the match while trying to get to work, a little peeved that they hadn’t cancelled.

I love how relaxed people are in Ecuador and how they relax me. Sometimes it drove me crazy because I’m American and need to be productive and always doing something, but it was such a good lesson to learn to calm down and “take it easy” and not worry about rushing to finish everything as soon as I could. “As soon as you can” isn’t a phrase I hear very often in Ecuador and if it is said, it’s definitely not meant with the same intentions as it is here in the United States. Phrases like “mañana” or “más tarde”—translating to “tomorrow” or “later” in English—I’ve learned really mean I’ll get to it when I feel like it or it may never happen. Once I understood this and stopped getting annoyed with people for not doing something when they said they would, once I stopped taking the words literally and placed what they said in an Ecuadorian cultural context, things started to slow down for me too and I didn’t stress out as much.

-Written on 10/16/08