10 Things I Will Miss About Ecuador

My time in Ecuador is rapidly coming to a close. Since I feel like I have so much more to write about, I decided to make a few lists that will hopefully give more insight on what life is like here. First things first: here are 10 things I am going to miss about this place. It almost brings a tear to my eye!

10. Hearing Latin Music Everywhere

Ecuador has a constant soundtrack of salsa, meringue, reggaeton and Andean music, with a little American pop thrown in, too. Around the clock, music is spilling out of tiendas, drowning out the squealing breaks on buses, and thumping in the clubs. You can’t escape it—even at 1 a.m. when the karaoke bar across the street is still letting people belt out tunes (ugh). Although I don’t mind—and kind of even like—most of the music, I will be very happy if I never hear a cover of “Sound of Silence” on the pan flute ever again.

09. Walks in the Park

One of my favorite things to do in Quito is simply go for a walk in the park. On the weekends they are packed with families and gangs of teenagers playing soccer, eating watermelon, paddling man-made lakes, and riding bikes. There are also lots of handicraft markets to browse, and when the sun is out an ice cream vendor is always nearby.

08. A Whole New World of Fruit

Although I enjoy some more than others, guanábana, maracuya, naranjilla and tomate de arbol are all fruits I had never heard of before coming here. The fruit here is cheap: baby bananas are three for 10 cents, and you can get four avocados for a dollar. And a party cup full of fresh squeezed juice is between one and two dollars.

07. The Sunshine & Scenery

I think I have more than proved that it is beautiful here in my previous posts. The city may be grimy and polluted, but the views of the valley more than make up for it. And although I do miss the change in seasons, the sun is always shining and the flowers bloom all year long.

Photo by Scarlett Dawn.

06. Drinking Coca-Cola Out of Bottles

You can’t help but get a nostalgic feeling when drinking Coke out of a bottle (even though, yes, I grew up drinking it out of aluminum and plastic, not glass). When going to lunch or dinner, I like to check out everyone’s Coke bottle to see who has the oldest one. My record so far is a bottle that has been in circulation since 1994.

05. Buying Just One Pill at the Pharmacy

If you are having a stomachache or mild allergic reaction, there is no need to buy a whole box of pills. Pharmacists allow you to buy however many pills you need, and if it isn’t enough, just come back tomorrow. It just makes sense. You can also buy a lot of medicine you would need a prescription for in the U.S., such as Valium.

04. The Ease of Transportation

The ability to get around the city and the surrounding countryside by bus here is pretty amazing. Bus rides through the city cost 25 cents, and on average the rate for traveling anywhere else is a dollar per hour. You do have to make some sacrifices to travel this way, mostly when it comes to your personal space and overall comfort, but in all honesty you can’t beat it.

03. Being Able to Tune People Out

Let me be honest: I don’t know much Spanish. I can order food, haggle for a bargain, and direct a taxi, but other than that I am pretty lost here. However, once while on a noisy bus full of English-speakers I realized not entirely knowing a language can be a kind of blessing in disguise. All of the background noise kind of gets tuned out—sometimes including the barrage of cat calls—and I am free to live in my own little world if I choose.

02. The Colors

Ecuador is a country that seems much more alive than anywhere else I have ever been, and I think that shines through in the colors used here. Buildings are often painted in bright, mismatched hues, and there are plenty of colorful textiles and handicrafts to match. All of this vividness makes going back to cookie cutter houses in the U.S. seems rather dull.

01. The People I Have Met

Kind of cheesy, I know, but the same goes for anywhere else I have ever lived. The thing I will miss most about Ecuador are all of the friends I have made and characters I have come across. I already wrote about Carlos the Mariachi Man, and plan on penning a few more stories about the personalities of this place.

Tags: ecuador, ecuador photo blog, lists, living in ecuador