Happy Christmas

I’m back in Birkenhead (UK) for Christmas. It should have only taken 18 hours or so to get from Quito to Manchester (via Madrid and Heathrow). However, runway snow and other hassles put paid to that plan. In fact the plan fell apart pretty quickly. It should be simple leaving Quito, as they have an intercontinental airport, slap bang in the city centre; an air disaster waiting to happen, but awfully convenient.

So we set of at 6pm on Friday for a westbound trip to Europe. However, the flight from Quito to Madrid stops to pick up passengers at Guyaquil airport, which is on the coast and consequently to the East of Quito. And it wasn’t so much as a quick stop as a disembarkation then waiting for a different aircraft to take us on the actual flight to Madrid. We are behind schedule, tired and 200 miles further away from our destination than when we started.

But eventually we take off for Madrid. On arriving there we find that our connecting flight is cancelled due to snow at Heathrow. But this is not so bad, we would have missed it anyway, and we get given a night in a hotel and tickets for the next flight in the morning (7am). Trouble is, that flight gets cancelled too, then the next one, and the snow situation is getting worse at Heathrow. We eventually wangle a flight to Amsterdam and when there ask if we can change our destination from Manchester to Liverpool. Presumably because of all the flight chaos none of the airlines had any issues or extra charges, they just wanted rid of stranded passengers.

We arrived at Liverpool about 10pm on Sunday, 24 hours later than planned. In that time we visited 5 different airports in four countries and had at least eight different boarding cards each. But at least we made it. Unfortunately our luggage was not so lucky. One case limped home four days after us, the other two are missing in action, presumed dead.

Work Visa

Ecuador is an interesting country to come to work in. But the work visa situation is a major a problem. Whereas many countries actively encourage the arrival of native English speakers, Ecuador’s overly bureaucratic systems actively stifles it.

We came in on 12-ix visas which you arrange in your own country via the Ecuadorian consulate. However even these are expensive and require a lot of paperwork. They let you enter the country and study or work for six months. But then of course you need to obtain a full work visa to stay any longer, and that is where it gets tricky. There really is a lot of paperwork this time, and now you are based in the dragon’s lair* of bureaucracy (Ecuador). Doing it on your own probably isn’t an option; you will still be queuing up somewhere when your current visa expires. So there are two other routes. You can pay a lawyer several hundred dollars and they will bribe the correct people and make it happen.  Alternatively, you find an employer who will do the paperwork; this is what we have done.

So this week, after several hours travelling to and from and waiting in government buildings, we were issued with work visas. Work visas with errors on them as it happens, so it’s back to queuing on Monday. But at least we have something. We paid out $230 each to the government for these visas. Our employers may or may not charge us an undisclosed sum for the paperwork. Bizarrely they won’t tell us how much. This is because they now have control over our very presence here in Ecuador. If they fire us, our visas become invalid and we have to leave, we can’t just search for another job. So this gives them considerable bullying power. Add in the mysterious paperwork fee, and they can also refuse to hand over any pay that they owe us, claiming that they are recouping their paperwork expenses.

There probably are some good jobs here, but most of the language institutes are used to having a rolling stock of semi-travellers, who they are not treated as teaching professionals. I also have a University job. They pay more than twice as much as the language institutes, but were not able to provide a visa.

There are other options of course. One language institute here arranges ‘cultural exchange visas’ for its staff. They provide Spanish lessons to the English teachers, hence it’s not work it’s a ‘cultural exchange’. But these only give you six months, and as far as I know are non-renewable.

So how and where you work here is completely dependent on what type of visa you have and who is willing to facilitate it. Effectively you can’t change jobs, and the employer who does facilitate your visa then owns you. Nice.


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*Despite what the idiotic TV show suggests, dragons live in lairs, not dens. 

National Curfew in Ecuador

We are not allowed to leave our flat today; the entire country is in lock-down. Only a select few are allowed outdoors. It’s not another coup attempt or other national emergency. Far more mundane, it’s census day in Ecuador.

To make sure that everybody is included, everybody has to stay at home and wait for the knock on the door. Considering how carefully the census organisers are being to ensure everybody is surveyed, it is strange that the actual data collection is entrusted to school children. That’s right, today every single household is being visited by school children. Anybody found outdoors today, not in either a police or school uniform is likely to be arrested or fined. To show that we have participated, we get a sticker on our front door. Presumably lacking this sticker also gets you in trouble.

Even stranger, to make sure nobody is drunk when surveyed, there is a complete nationwide ban on the consumption of alcohol. The prohibition period is much longer than the actual census period and has been in force since midnight on Friday 26th and lasts until midday on Monday 29th. So I have been in all day, and even if I went out all public transport is suspended and all shops are closed.

Being under house arrest has at least given me the opportunity to catch some Ecuadorian daytime TV, and take this photo. Bumble bee man isn’t just a character in the Simpsons. There really is such a person on Latin American TV.

This TV show is popular is shown across Latin America and always features this insectoid character

Working for the Yankee Dollar

Ecuador doesn’t really have a national currency anymore.  Since the year 2000 the US dollar has been the official currency. This has apparently brought economic stability, but presumably eroded cultural identity somewhat. The bank notes are identical to US dollar bills and they also use the one dollar coin extensively here, unlike in the USA itself. The coins of less than a dollar are minted specifically for Ecuador, and the minor unit is the centavos, not the cent.  Though they are the same size as US cent coins and are interchangeable here.


The main one dollar coin that is in circulation is a year 2000 mint bearing the image of an indigenous woman with child. This gives the coin an Ecuadorian feel. However, it is in fact still a USA coin and displays the words ‘In God We Trust’. The indigenous women pictured is Sacagawea  a North American Shoshone Indian guide who aided explorers in 1804.

The adoption of the US dollar has served to attract many estadounidenses* to live in Ecuador. Particularly, retirees who find that there US pension goes a long way here. The city of Cuenca is particularly popular with retirees from the USA.


At the time of writing one USA/Ecuador dollar is worth about 63pence in British money.  The cost of living is very low compared to Britain. Intercity bus travel costs about $1 per hour. A dollar will also buy you a taxi ride equivalent to a 25 minute walk, or a dozen oranges from a street vendor. You can easily rent a good apartment in the capital, as we did, for under $500 per month. In general things cost only about a half  to a third of what they would cost in Britain. Though some imported goods as just as expensive, brand name sports shoes for example still cost a minimum of $60 a pair.


Pay for teaching English varies tremendously, but the minimum is usually about $7 per hour. One job I had recently paid around $20 per hour. In addition, the tax rate is low. I pay only 8% and even this I can apparently claim back as a non-resident. This is a breath of financial fresh air. I was paying 40% of my pay as tax while working in the UK.
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* estadounidense is a Spanish word for somebody or something from the United States of America. English doesn’t have a word specifically for this, so most English speakers just say American. However, this grates with the majority of people who live on the American continent but are not from the USA. 

Day of the Dead

The day of the dead is a festival celebrated across Latin America. It isn’t as spooky as it sounds, at least not in Ecuador. The main activity of the day is visiting the cemetery to spend time at the graves of dead family members, but this is not just a flying visit to drop off some flowers as it might be in the UK. The whole family comes along, and they spend much of the day at the grave. They bring food and have a sort of picnic, they tend to the grave and add ornamental crosses or flowers. Of course as everybody in town is doing this on the same day, the graveyard becomes quite crowded. In addition, there may be market traders around (or in) the cemetery, supplying the crowds with food and religious wares. Overall, the festivities transform the graveyards into something you would rarely ever see in the UK. There may even be entertainment laid on.

Andean rock band Cocha Marka playing ive at Otavalo cemetery

The day of the dead is celebrated on November 2nd, which this year was a Tuesday, in Ecuador November 3rd is an Independence day. This year the government gave Monday as ‘bridge’ public holiday which means most people have had a five day weekend.  Consequently, everybody in Ecuador has gone away somewhere. We took the opportunity to come to Otavalo in the northern highlands. This town is famous for its indigenous textiles and its markets, but is also a good place to observe the customs of day of the dead.

The day that it is celebrated on is actually all souls day in the Catholic religion, and the day of the dead is likely an indigenous adaptation of this European religious custom. Christianity is big over here, and has been since the Spanish arrived with Columbus. However, it tends to be integrated with traditional local customs, particularly by the indigenous groups. An example of this is the Ecuadorian custom of eating guaguas de pan- little dolls made of bread, with colada morada-  a think fruity drink that looks like blood and guts. The combination is reminiscent of the Catholic bread and wine – body and blood symbolism. This is likely an example of syncretism, the merging of religious belief systems to avoid conflict. It isn’t at all uncommon, and is for example why Easter in the UK is celebrated with eggs and bunny rabbits; these native customs were syncretised with Christianity when Pagan Europeans adopted that Middle Eastern religion.

Guaguas de pan, these are from a supermarket, better ones are sold by street vendors

Guagua and colada morada

I visited the cemetery in Otavalo on the day of the dead, and it was a struggle to get through the crowds to get there. The last few hundred yards of the route were lined with traders selling guaguas, fruit and other food. When I arrived the cemetery was packed and there was a stage set up for an Andean rock band to play. I bought a CD. There was a balloon seller and hundreds of families spending time at the family graves. It is quite a scene, but I coudn’t stay long as it felt something of an invasion of privacy, and being the only gringo there, I stood out as a gawky tourist. Nevertheless, I wasn’t the only one there who took photographs. Locals were doing that too, and I didn’t encounter any hostility.

At what temperature does water boil?

It boils at about 90c in my apartment, and the vegetables never quite soften up. This is a consequence of living in one of the highest altitude cities in the world. Denver in the USA is know as the mile high city, but is pretty low altitude in comparison to Quito. The height above sea level here varies because the city sprawls across a valley. The Altitude is said to be about 9300 feet (2850 metres) in the central area, but go up to the suburbs on the valley sides and you will be closer to 10,000 feet up. If you were piloting a light aircraft at that height you would be required to use oxygen tanks for safety. You can go even higher. A main tourist attraction here is the Teleférico, a cable car ride up the side of Volcan Pichincha, to over 4,000 feet. Up there the air really is scarce. I felt sick and had to return to the city, but that was only a week after I arrived here, so I may not have fully acclimatised.

When you first arrive it can be a bit of a shock, your fitness drops considerably and a stroll to the shops can leave you feeling woozy and out of breath. You get used to it, somewhat. The body makes lots of changes to adapt, such as increasing your red blood cell count. For this reason, high altitude living is popular with some athletes, as it is thought that these physiological changes give a competitive advantage when competing back at low altitude. However, it is my impression that the body can’t fully adapt to the lack of air up here. I’ve started some fairly intensive batto-jutsu (Japanese sword training) classes. Although I expect to feel tired afterwards, the fatigue is much longer than anything I’ve experienced at ground level.

At least I'll be fit when I return to the UK at Christmas, thanks to all those extra blood cells.

Busy

This teaching lark is really easy to get stuck with. I have 26 hours of teaching this week, with preparation and travel, this is more than UK full time work. I don't need to work so much, but I keep getting asked to teach, and it pays quite well. In addition, my six month visa is more than half way through, so I need to find somebody to help with that, the more I work the more likely that is.

Hopefully things will settle down and I'll be able to get back to doing things I want to do. There'll be a better blog post soon.