Flickr

If you want to see even more pictures, check out my flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/willecuador/

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Hot Tips for Ecuador: Quito pt. 2

The day before I leave for the Amazon I thought I should follow through on my promise and post the second installment in my now world renowned series “Hot Tips for Ecuador”. So, without further ado, here goes Quito: part 2.

1.) Danger, Volcanoes! Ecuador and Quito lie in the Pacific Ring of Fire. The whole country therefore is spotted with active volcanoes, ready to blow at any moment. In fact, right next to the resort town of Banos, a volcano called Tungurahua is erupting as I write this. Quito is shouldered by an active volcano, Pichincha, just about a mile outside the city. And if one of the big ones like Cotopaxi were to erupt, it could completely devastate Quito with a lahar, pyroclastic flow, or in the worst case, a sideways eruption like Mount Saint Helens. At the very least Quito would be buried in ash; since the 1980s ash has fallen twice in Quito from volcanic eruptions in other parts of the country. So these volcano warning signs are no joke, although they are pretty funny.

Volcanoes are no laughing matter, but the drawing on this sign definitely is.

2.) I'm huge in Ecuador! I've never considered myself tall. I'm 6'1”, by my standards, this is slightly above average in the States. In Ecuador however, I'm a giant. Ecuadorians, as a people, are very very short, I would say the men average 5'7” to 5'8” and the women even shorter. And this isn't just a generalization; in my two months here I honestly have yet to see a single local who is taller than me. When I'm on a crowded metro bus, I can see over everyone by a good four inches. This also means, however, that Ecuador was not built for the tall. I'm constantly having to duck or bow my head and several times I have smacked my head on the bars you hold onto in the bus. Just a few days ago I climbed on to a bus as it lurched forward, causing me to slam my head against the bar and fall flat on the floor, that one left me with a nice bump and some bloody hair. So if you're tall and planning a trip to Ecuador, enjoy the view, but watch you head.

3.) All I want is a hot shower. The house we're living in now does not have a properly functioning shower. The water pressure is deplorable, and the water is luke warm at best... freezing cold at worst. So we've come up with the very third world solution of filling buckets with hot water from the tap and pouring it over ourselves to “wash up”. I have also had the extraordinarily bad luck of not getting a good hot shower at any of the six different hostals I have stayed at so far. I can only hope things improve. The lesson here of course is even in a decently developed country even the basics can be left behind. 
Me washing my hair in the sink.

 4.) Save the neck for me! This is a quote from the classic family movie “Christmas Vacation” with Chevy Chase. And I can now say that I've eaten a chicken neck... and much, much more. In Ecuador it is beyond rude not to clear your plate. You finish your food, only take what you are going to eat, and eat what is given to you. This is a part of the culture that looks very poorly upon waste. For fruits this means juicing whatever is rotting, it also means not keeping very many fresh vegetables in the house. For meats this means using the whole animal, the Whole animal. Here are a few of the choice animal parts that I've eaten so far:

Chicken Neck- actually very good, a surprising amount of meat.
Pork Skin- Kind of fatty and chewy at the same time, not bad
Chicken Kidney- Kind of like eating a sponge, not my favorite
Liver- It's liver, not too exciting, it's good if you prepare it right
Chicken Feet- Pretty much just skin and tendons
Cow Stomach- Really, really chewy, with no taste, I'm not a fan

Of course this just scratches the surface. I have yet to try such classics as tripe (intestines), or brains, not to mention the many things I can't even identify. But whatever it is, if you are served food, you had better eat it, all of it.
A yummy cow head soup from Otavalo, teeth included.

No comments:

Post a Comment