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The juice we drink still comes directly from our tropical fruit rather than a can, bottle, or frozen package. Bread comes fresh from the bakery every day—there are one or two on every block—and milk comes delivered to the door, dispensed from the back of the farmer’s truck. Diet soda, artificial sweeteners, and food preservatives are almost unheard of. We still have jingles for ads on the radio, and every town has a local beauty contest. We don’t have childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and mothers mostly still stay home to raise—and keep an eye on—their children, who actually ride bikes here without helmets, learning to be careful. Kids and adults alike take pleasure in a ride on a sunny day from the open back of a pickup truck, and it’s not uncommon to see a family of four enjoying an outing on the same motorcycle. People still hitchhike, without incident, and you can still buy a pistol and ammo over the counter in the local hardware store. We don’t have personal injury law here: While a wrongdoer will be required to pay for the damages he caused, there are no multi-million-dollar awards to raise the price of our health care, insurance, or goods. People are expected to be accountable for their actions and decisions. No one monitors our credit card purchases, tracks our spending habits, or watches our e-mails…and we don’t have telemarketers. Society is still willing to write off mishaps to happenstance or carelessness and learn from mistakes rather than legislating a fix that everyone has to pay for. For example, cars don’t have neutral safety switches and people are expected to depress the clutch before turning the key…an idea that actually works. Friends and
families still drop by to visit, both expectedly and unexpectedly, and
this forms the major part of life’s social interaction. Family outings
remain the most important pastime, and kids don’t grow up in front of a
monitor surfing the web, glued to a Play Station, or hooked on cable TV.
Getting pregnant out of wedlock is still remarkable, pre-marital sex still
risqué, and the practice of asking the parents for the daughter’s
hand in marriage still firmly in place. There remains such a social stigma
associated with divorce that it encourages people to work problems out,
and single-parent homes are extremely rare.
As romantic as that sounds however, think twice about it: While some people will find their experience enriched by the lack of expatriates, others will feel isolated, particularly if they don’t speak Spanish. Unless you’re in Vilcabamba—where there’s a fair amount of English spoken—it’s rare that you’ll hear your native language. You also won’t hear anything about the World Series, no one’s heard of the Super Bowl, you’ll be surprised by the country being shut down on May Day, and you’ll find everyone at work on Thanksgiving. With no expats, it’s hard to maintain some of the old traditions—we even missed St. Patrick’s Day this year—although I must say that our Ecuadorian friends are learning to like turkey and stuffing. I’d still pick Ecuador again But after almost
two years here and all the intervening travel around the world, I’d still
be here if I had it to do over again. When we first toured Ecuador, one
look at colonial Cuenca was all it took. With its beautiful historic downtown
complete with restored colonial buildings and cobble-stoned streets, near-perfect
weather and welcoming people, it was just what we were looking for. It
has everything we need: there’s pure tap water, several ISPs, a symphony
orchestra and theater, excellent health care, and a rich culture complete
with bustling indigenous markets, and a wealth of tiny Madrid-style shops
selling everything one could imagine. The flowers, fresh fruits, and hummingbirds
are with us year-round.
Look at the big picture There’s more to Ecuador than bargain-priced homes, a low cost of living, and an entrepreneurial climate. More than life in the 50s, with all of its good and bad points. When you come to Ecuador, come for the brightly colored buses rolling down the highway with Latin rock blasting through the windows and animals riding on top; come for the roadside pig roasts, where you can eat a delicious meal for a dollar; come for the colorful Indian markets, the rainforest, beaches, and the adventure…come for the hot home-made Mallorca direct from the still. Because these are the things that really set us apart from the rest of the world. A pioneering spirit There’s plenty
of opportunity to do business in Ecuador. IL readers Chris and Leslie Breen
recently opened an “International Tapas” restaurant—the Eucalyptus Café—which
enjoys a packed house just about every night of the week and has become
the most successful venue in the city. Anga Miller operates a small clothing
factory in which she makes designer clothing for the U.S. market. Reader
Bobby Shelton is scouring the countryside in Vilcabamba looking for a development
site for “in character” but American quality homes, while reader Ellen
Schultz of New York is writing her first promos for a proposed Yoga retreat.
All one needs is a good, original idea, and a pioneering spirit to make
a go of it.
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