Top 25 Ecuadorian Tidbits

25. There are 132 volcanoes in Ecuador

Cotopaxi Smoking

24. Cotopaxi is the 2^nd tallest volcano at 19,347 feet and has been smoking and shooting up ash since before I got here.  It is in Code Yellow—one code away from full eruption putting the region I have been serving in a lot of danger.

23. They are excellent users of turn signals and flashers

22. In addition to stop lights there are tons of police directing traffic to improve efficiency

21.  The average life expectancy is around 90 years old with some living to 110 in certain areas.  Their secret is a diet filled with corn!

20.  Ecuador is becoming one of the #1 places for Americans to retire.

Cops drive with their lights on

19.  Since 2000, the currency has been the US Dollar.

18. Cops drive with their lights on all the time—making it a tad unnerving to be followed!

17. Tips are not expected or normal in Ecuador.  Even if you were to tip 25 cents they would be thrilled.  If you would tip the normal 15-20%, they would be ecstatic!

16. You can get a dozen roses for $1

15.  There has been a cut in schools that are open and many schools 2 full school days held at them.  They have a group of students come in the morning to early afternoon and another set of students and teachers come from early afternoon until evening.

14.  Due to an overabundance of cars, driving in Quito has been restricted based on the last number of your license plate.  For example, if yours ends in 0 or 1, you can’t drive into the city on Monday.

13. For us the white dashed lines on highways separate lanes--here it is a personal lane for motorcycles between all the cars and buses.

12. You are not allowed to listen to the radio or music while driving in the city.

11. The economy is based on agriculture, petrol, flowers, and fruits like bananas.

10. Some companies here put a “Made in the USA” stamp on their product to sell it for more.

9. The average salary here is $340 a month

8. The driving age here is 18 years old.  If you want to drive when you are 16, you have to pay $5,000

7. Only banks accept $100 or even $50 bills due to a high rate of counterfeiting. If you want to deposit a $100 bill at the bank they will take your personal information to come after you if they find it’s counterfeit.

Equator

6.  Although most people speak Spanish, an indigenous language here is Keechwa.  Part of this language is adding “–ita” to many things as term of endearment and has been adopted into the Spanish language here but is technically slang. For example, Susana would be Susanita. 

5.  Freshly made fruit juice EVERY morning is amazing!!

4. People still casually greet each other in passing on the street, Buenos dias!!

3. The equator is actually a 5 km wide strip

2. It is cool to see a volcano like Cotopaxi smoking…as long as it doesn’t actually erupt.

1. Ecuador is a beautiful country with even more beautiful people!!