Once again, the trip to Quito Ecuador was a thrilling and eye opening journey. Unlike the mission’s trip I took ten years ago, my husband and I saw both the high-end side of Ecuador and the deep poverty. We learned from our host that the many street people who approach your car to sell all sorts of items from lanterns to candy and fruit to nuts, are mainly immigrants from Venezuela. They have traversed the land by foot for over 1,700 kilometers which translates to about a thousand miles!! Political upheaval and increasing loss of jobs and food has forced many to migrate to Ecuador just to be able to make some centavos or if they’re lucky, a few dollars a day. Being my husband’s first trip to the land of the equator, he was deeply impacted by the poverty.
As we traversed the land from the Middle of the Earth to Old Quito, we took in the breath-taking Andes Mountains or more specifically the Cordillera Real, ( Royal Range) as they are called in Ecuador. The trip from Quito to Tonsupa involved a nine-hour journey traversing dangerous, switch backed roads, parts of the rain forest and many small villages. It is here where we saw devastating poverty. People lived in shacks that we would not even allow our dogs or chickens to inhabit. Seeing this year’s ago, I was prompted to help more children and now sponsor a child from Guayaquil. Yet Ecuador is not the poorest of the South American countries. According to our host, it is second in its wealth, which we also got to enjoy.
In Tonsupa we stayed in a resort right on the beach with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean from our fourth-floor balcony. Fan palms and coconut trees graced our view, as well as many beautiful hibiscus, roses and orange stars. My daughter in law told me that it was a place where the rich Ecuadorians vacation. Even though our condominium did not have the services which we are accustomed to in America, like air conditioning in the bedroom and towels, I saw that this area was indeed for the rich, with its guards and gated entrances. In addition, the resort boasted six swimming pools, waterfalls, sprays and a hot tub. I met a young boy who attended the International School in Quito and he spoke excellent English as well as Spanish and French. Indeed, the Ecuadorian rich frequented here.
The beach (la playa) was magnificent with its palm trees, warm, gentle waves, turquoise hue and pavilions for guests to lounge in and around. The plethora of places to eat and drink right on the beach is in stark contrast to most American beaches in addition to its lack of life guards blowing their whistles. Yet the Spanish music is loud in some areas and makes up for the lack of loud whistles, yet somehow it is more fitting and festive. Here, many also come to sell their wares—jewelry, carved wooden items, ceviche (a cold fish soup that is delicious) coconut milk (which I got sick on last time) and of course icecream, which is on every street corner in almost every town and village!
Whether at the beach or in Quito, the various foods are abundant and delicious from different rice dishes, corn tamales, pork frittatas, plantains, cheese omelets to fresh baked chocolate bread, croissants, pastries and yuca bread. The beach boasts very fresh and varied fish(pescado), from squid and calamari, to shrimp, fish stew and fried pescado. The juices are incredible—papaya, mango, peach, guanabana (my favorite) and of course coconut milk. And of course, there is now where in the world that makes a better Pina Colada or Strawberry Daiquiri, at least nowhere I have been.
One of my favorite events in Ecuador is attending a New Year’s Eve Celebration on the beach. It is truly like no other!! All day long they set off fireworks to get ready for the REALLY BIG SHOW, which takes place up and down the beach as far as you can see for over an hour. This year, the hundreds of lanterns launched from the beach added to an already spectacular celebration—the burning of the various Fugueos de Anos, figures made of paper mâché fashioned into cartoon characters, political figures and the like, families dressed in white to bring in the New Year and get their photos taken on the beach or in the water, and of course the Latin beat music of salsa, merengue, and Pasacalle.
While many were out drinking, we didn’t want to participate in that commotion so we brought in the New Year with Margaritas, which turned out not to actually have tequila in it, but only the mix. It didn’t even matter. The whole evening had been so amazing—launching the lanterns from the beach and watching them ascend into the night sky, viewing the fireworks from the balcony, taking pictures of family, eating a scrumptious Ecuadorian style turkey dinner replete with a corn and bean mix with rice, toasting the New Year 2019 and sharing our hopes and dreams.
While this is the rich and festive side of Ecuador, we will not easily forget the less fortunate. My husband and I plan on doing something to help the poor both there and where we live. I’m very pleased to sponsor a boy from Ecuador, and I would like to do more for him and his family. I started a Helping Hands Club in my school to help make the students aware of the less fortunate than themselves, even though I work in an impoverished school district. My husband plans on doing some volunteering locally and returning to Ecuador. We are waiting on the Lord and seeking His direction. In the meantime, we are thankful for this wonderful trip into the land of Ecuador, the middle of the Earth!
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