As one of the "Russians" who immigrated to Ecuador told us: "Here you cannot sit on the sidewalk in a clean suit and stand up without getting dirty." But if we define a "third-world" country by such indicators, then how do we define our own country?
We once asked a former Muscovite to tell us about the shortcomings of the country where he has been living for more than two years. Here is what came of it.
"It is no secret that a global economic crisis has erupted on the planet, which is still raging. Remember the stock market turmoil in Asia, the fall in world oil prices. Naturally, all these cataclysms could not bypass small Ecuador, one of whose pillars is the petrodollar.
Russia was one of the largest consumers of our bananas and flowers, but has now reduced its orders by almost half. The exchange rate of the dollar against the sucre began to jump, and the poor sucre has fallen by almost half over the past year. Thank God that the dollar is in free circulation here (unlike in Russia). So here you need to carefully monitor the exchange rate and make sure that the sucre does not sit idle. That's the economy.
Well, the main thing that really irritates is the favorite Latin American word 'mañana'. The unreliability of Ecuadorian companies is sometimes so obvious that you want to give them a thrashing (by the way, it helps). The sight of an enraged white giant (by their standards) is so frightening that the guys start to move. Well, in general, you have to learn the art of communicating with locals.
About daily life. Telephone company services are very expensive, although the price level for this type of communication is the same as in the US. What also irritates (me personally) is that the seats on buses are very small. My knees don't fit, and standing on buses is prohibited. They make seats for their own dimensions! And also, recently a nearby volcano spewed steam and ash into the sky, we sneezed for two whole days.
So we sit and think what else is bad here, but we can't think of anything yet... Understand that after Russia, everything seems such a trifle that you don't pay attention."
Before seriously considering immigration to Ecuador, you should decide for yourself: can you get used to the peculiarities of this country, to a completely different culture and language? Although, to tell the truth, the same problems have to be solved when moving to other countries. Only in the case of Ecuador, between your decision and the actual departure there will be only about 10-14 days. This makes immigration to Ecuador very attractive for people who have no desire to wait months and years for a permanent residence visa to developed countries.
"Zagranitsa" No. 15, 1999