As Christmas fast approaches, and I´m learning more and more about the traditions that they have here for the holiday, I thought it might be appropriate to write a general comparison about many of the daily things I´ve noticed that are the same or different living here in the dor of Ecua.
Lets start with Christmas:
I´ve already mentioned the 5 meat stuffing that goes into the turkey....instead of turducken they have turpibeechisauork. And yes, I am aware that I used both pig and pork in making that word up, but seriously, for special meals they use more pork than would satisfy the big bad wolf....
And with that absolutely horrendous joke, we´re moving on.
Another difference in christmas traditions is that here there´s a lot more secret santa/secret friend instead of getting a present for everyone in the family. I don´t know if it´s because there´s a lot less money down here or what, but it´s an interesting approach to the idea of gift giving, and there´s a bigger emphasis on spending time with the family as opposed to what you get. NOTE TO MOM- PLEASE DO NOT READ TOO MUCH INTO THIS, sure it works in Ecuador, but if you try to introduce this concept into the Chadwick/Dunn-Chadwick household, you´re going to be risking chaos and serious ill-will, and no one wants that around Christmas.
The biggest difference here during the holiday period is definitely the weather. I cannot even imagine snow right now, it is impossible to even think of needing to wear sweatshirts, jackets, scarfs, or mittens. Starting in December, and lasting until March or April, Ecuador takes a serious look at itself, decides it doesn´t like what it sees, and in an extreme and not recommendable attempt at losing a ton of weight, locks itself in a sauna and has everyone suffer for its vanity. How hot will it get you ask? Apparently on average it will reach 40-42 degrees Celcius every day. Haven´t memorized your Fahrenheit/Celcius/Kelvin conversion tables? That´s a whopping 104 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, on top of that, this same period of time is the rainy season, where every night it will rain from about 10 till the morning, which also means that there are about 6 days out of these months where my classes will be cancelled due to rain...because the Institute will literally flood and there will be 2 feet of water to walk through in order to get to class. So don´t talk to me about snow....I won´t be able to relate.
However, other things are very similar. Just because my family isn´t as plugged into the stuffstuffstuff side of christmas doesnt mean the stores and some other family´s aren´t. Christmas here doesn´t start quite as early as before Thanksgiving as it does back home, but it´s not far behind. There are also some things that are the same that probably shouldn´t be....like while walking around the mall, it´s a little odd hearing John Lennon, Bing Crosby, and Alvin and the Chipmunks sing carols in English....especially since Ecuador is NOT a "winter-wonderland", Jack frost is NOT nipping at anyone´s nose, and if Santa Claus comes to town, all dressed in fur, he´s going to have a heat stroke... Also, there are fake Xmas trees everywhere, including some that are covered in snow and one giant one that is at the entrance to the city...it´s a little sad how much of an influence the "traditional" US Christmas has had on the very different Ecuadorian culture....
In fact, it´s very interesting to see the effect that the US culture has had on this country. Clearly, you´re going to have fast food everywhere, I wouldn´t be surprised if there were a McDonald´s in Antarctica, and here is no exception. IN quito, therewas a McD´s, a Burger King, and a KFC. Here in Machala, there is only one of those, but not a McDonald´s like you might expect. Altho the Golden Arches may hold sway worldwide, due to the amount of chicken eaten here if a city has a fast food restaurant, it´s a KFC. And yes, there are still the snackers, the normal and crispy styles, they also even have the wrap thing in the tortilla, but instead of fries here (altho they do have them), the most common side orders are rice and menestra, or lentils, which accompany almost every meal that you eat down here.
We also have a cinema here, and it actually carries big movies here in English, with Spanish subtitles. And popcorn and soda are also the biggest snacks to buy in the theater. The difference here is the timing of the movie releases. For instance, that movie with Patrick Dempsey about the man maid of honor just came out down here, and I believe that that may not even be shown in theaters back home anymore. However, at the same time, I´m positive that I saw the new Bond movie before anyone else back home, because it came out over a week earlier than it did in the States. So, as long as they keep showing movies like Bond early here, I think I´ll survive with waiting a couple weeks to see Made of Honor...
What most interests me in living here are the differences that are very evident in between the two cultures that I´m used to. First, the people here are in general a lot more.....nice. "But Bryce, weren´t you pisto-whipped by said nice people?" Yes, there will always be a couple bad bananas in every bunch, and I would say that it´s definitely a lot more dangerous to live down here than back home in the US, but in general people who are not looking to steal your prized Wake Forest hat and glasses are a lot more friendly and willing to go out of their way to help a lost and confused gringo. It´s also a very different atmosphere than that which I experienced in Europe. In Spain, the revelation of the fact that I was from the US was immediately met with a negative reaction. People did not like Bush and his international policies, and that fact mixed with the other negative stereotypes of us USAmericans caused most of the random Spanish people I met on the street to have a "you´re going to have to show me a reason why I SHOULD be polite to you" mentality. It is very interesting that here, in a so-called third world country, they are better able to separate the people from their government, adn have a much more open mind about strangers than in the "more cultured" first world...
Ok, clearly there are more differences than this, but I´ve been promising to put up a post for the past week, and I´m about to head to Montanita for New Years....it´s going to be pretty crazy they tell me...my family thinks there´s a chance I may not want to come back to Machala.....
POSTSCRIPT
I wrote this before leaving for Montanita, obviously, but there was a problem posting and I had to leave before I could finish figuring it out. I am back now, had a blast, and am now having to deal with the fact that I have to go back to making lesson plans for the next three weeks... New post about Montanita coming soon...
Happy 2009!
