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Ecuador Welcome Forum: visiting ecuador:
Remember on the motorcycle that stopping at stop signs outside of the big cities is not the norm. The locals just slow down....sometimes.
You will need all your defensive riding skills. Good luck!
I ride a 250cc street/dirt bike here in Vilcabamba and in Maine in the northern summer a 650cc Yamaha.
sinego
Ecuador: Election Results:
WS
Where is the "Slap-O-Tron" attachment when I need it? I give the command here and your unit delivers a slap.
sinego
Ecuador: Prescription Medications?:
Is "scripts" cute shorthand for prescriptions? as "meds" is for medicines? Or would this be a collection of "lines" to be spoken by an actor? If so a list of scripts would be the repertoire of a player or troupe, an actors resume, a repertory company's stock of plays.
time for my meds - the anti-rambling remedy.
sinego
Ecuador Welcome Forum: Bringing Rx meds into Ecuador:
I have been bringing in heart meds every summer for six years now. Never a question in passing customs at either end. But nobody uses hypertension and arrhythmia medication for a buzz....I would have noticed were there any effect.
Aspirin and fish oil caps in the big jars too are packed to come south, some stuff is cheaper in the states.
I do keep the paperwork with the packages, the prescription and receipts. Never needed to show them but just in case.
sinmedicine
Ecuador: "The Great Guest Mentality!":
Yesterday I was in Saraguro. Ate at a really upscale restaurant. "Shama-lo" or something like. Reminded me of the stuff at the CIA in VT - huge plates with little items in the middle. Prices to match the plates.
Not my cup of Tay but great way to spend money. I am simple enough to have preferred the bucket of KFC on a bench in the park. That and a bottle of soda. Didn't happen. I was with others.
Even a poor gringo like me gets so much SS I have to bleed it off now and then before it accumulate & burns a hole in my pocket.
Fish? Yes there is a trout farm restaurant just north of Malacatos. That's about eight klicks from Vilcabamba on the road to Loja. I believe they raise them in a barrel and the guests shoot the fish they want which is then given last rights and ceremonially cooked, arriving at the table several hours later.
Ritual ceremonies for eating are lost on me.
Mostly I eat at home. Ohm lets and pasta with Magi soup mix.
Far too much rain down here in Loja province. All the piles of Volcanic ash on the up slope side are collapsing and covering the road. On the down hill side they are collapsing and taking the road with them.
There was a rumor that the water in the Pacific just off shore is too warm. Somebody dropped the ball in that department. Too cold up here as well.
Would a guest piss and moan like this? I guess a gringo guest would.
sinego
Ecuador Welcome Forum: Place for 3 month stay:
I was three years in Cuenca. I am in Vilcabamba now. At the end of my time in Cuenca I had an apartment on Hermano Miguel near the Escalinata and Wind Horse Cafe. I paid only $140 a month. I furnished it with found objects.
You should consider (for the money you are willing to pay) an hotel. Negotiate a long term rate. Or rent an unfurnished place and outfit it with plastic table and chairs and a mattress. Then you might find something under $200. I had a nice place for $140. Kitchen, bath, terrace, view.
Stay at a hotel/hostel while you hunt for a longer term situation. It is a renter's market. Don't let expectations color what you see - its not the states. Bargains are available.
Here in Vilcabamba I have a nice house for $200 +$20 for all utilities. I also have clean air. That is worth something.
If you only stay in Cuenca three months you should be ok with the diesel exhaust and altitude.
good luck
sinego
Ecuador Welcome Forum: Learning Spanish:
This is one of the nasty little secrets of life here. Like the skeleton in the expat community's closet. Very few gringos learn Spanish to even basic level.
Why? because it is difficult. Because in reality you can live fine here with close to zero language skill.
The way to approach it is slow and steady. That means the quick course which promises "you'll be fluent in two weeks" is BS.
Did you learn Calculus in two weeks? A second language might well be more difficult than Calculus. Think, years, not weeks. It needs to soak in. You also need to use it in conversation. You can not learn to drive in a class room (even one large enough for bumper cars) you need the real world and its traffic.
I do know people who's only conversations are in English but who, faithfully have a class in Spanish every week. They do this for years, Like an observant Catholic, going to mass every week without fail. The devout church goer might get into heaven this way - but and hour of academics without practical exercise doesn't cut it. Language, like riding a bicycle, is a motor skill.
For every hour in a class room spend two hours in conversation. Difficult until you have a vocabulary of a couple of hundred words but that doesn't take too long. Learn phrases early, stuff you will hear often and can use right away.
To get back to your question....I suggest you hire a tutor and do one on one every day. Get into immersion mode as soon as you can. We learn to swim immersed, not on the recliners.
buena suerte
sinego
Ecuador Welcome Forum: Bus and Taxi drivers in Ecuador:
I have noticed something about taxi's in my first three months on the motorcycle in Ecuador. Nobody appears out of nowhere behind me faster than a taxi. But that helps clear the road, I let them pass ASAP and they're gone. I don't think they're that bad, not here in Vilcabamba anyhow....aggressive yes, but predictable.
The danger is "Sunday" drivers from Loja who go so slow they enrage the lead footed ones. This leads to a procession of hot heads on winding roads where safe passing is impossible.
None of what I see here is unique to Ecuador but particular aspects might be more pronounced than in the states.
People ask, is it more dangerous in Ecuador on a motorcycle?
The danger to a rider is from their own inattention and lack of skill. About 90% I'd say.
We tend to externalize the cause of accidents, to assign fault. Survival is in the hands of the rider here or in the states.
If you think...."they are trying to kill me" you will have the right mindset and might survive.
Seriously, I look at it as, "I'm 71 next month....I HAVE survived, the rest is frosting" doesn't mean I am going to relax and let down my guard. Don't want to be in traction for the time remaining.
WS - are you riding much in Cuenca? That place is much more dangerous than here in el campo.
sinego
Ecuador Welcome Forum: GALAPAGOS LIFE: people saving the day:
A kickstarter project about to hit its $55K goal
Environmentalism. Conservation. Protecting our most precious ecosystem against Climate Change. People getting it done. Lesson for all?
Kickstarter campaign is to complete the latest film by award-winning documentary filmmaker Kum-Kum Bhavnani, entitled Galapagos Life.
Anyone here have experience with the making of this film? Does anyone know of an expat living full time in the Galapagos?
Ecuador Welcome Forum: Ayahuasca Ceremony in Otavalo Waterfall:
Joint Ceremony
Back of cane field by the
bend in the river.
dress optional (wear "bug-off" at least)
enlightenment not guaranteed
$2 per toke (absolutely NO
Bogarting!!)
Please remember to pass the roach to the left.
sinego
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