Ecuador
The core of Ecuador is much to adore!
The Basics
Ecuador is located in western South America. It borders the Pacific Ocean along the Equator and is placed in between Columbia and Peru. This country has a subtropical highland climate that has three season: high season (Jun-Sept), shoulder season (Oct-Nov), and the low season (Dec-May). During the high season, the average temp is about 77 degrees with little to no rain. The shoulder and low season are a little cooler and have plenty more showers. Running through Ecuador is the Andes Mountains along with the Amazon Rainforest cover part of its eastern side.
How To Fit In
Ecuador is very diverse but is made up of four languages: Spanish (93%), Quechua (4.1%), Foreign languages (2.2%), and Indigenous languages (0.7%). In you ever visit the country you may notice things like stoplights and stop signs are optional, children make up their own games with pointless rules, people always answer the phone with "hello", and kids throw rocks at stray dogs. These may seem odd to us but they are social norms in Ecuador. Some things that you are not allowed to do under any circumstances are burning the Ecuadorian flag or wearing look-alike military attire (camouflage). Those have consequences. Ecuadorians value their family and power/authority in the household. It is very common for many families to be living in one household. This provides security and they can help one another. It is expected that the men provide for the family while the women stay and help around the house.
Digging Deeper Into Culture
Two subcultures that nest in Ecuador are Indigenous people making up 25% of the population and the Afro-Ecuadorian making up 7% of the population. Many of the houses are smaller than in the U.S. but still average in size, enough to hold several family members. They are also build very close to one another in bigger cities. Soccer is popular around the world but is Ecuador's most popular sport and continues to grow amongst cultures. The Afro-Ecuadorian culture is mainly descendants that escaped slavery from sugar plantations. Along with many other groups coming to Ecuador, they each bring a new culture to learn from.
Food
Food in Ecuador is very unique compared to what we find in the United States. Bean or meat soup is normally the first part of your meal and is served with every meal. The course meal may consist of fish or pork with a side of potatoes. One thing that is very common to buy on the streets or in restaurants is empanadas. What we have as an pet in the U.S. can also serve as a meal for Ecuadorians, yes a guinea pig. One of the very common dishes. It may be surprising but you can find Arby's, Domino's, KFC, McDonald's, and TGI Friday's in the capital of Ecuador.
Elizabeth Thompson MLA
Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
"Ecuador - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette." Ecuador. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
"Top 24 Cultural Norms of Ecuador." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.