We leave in the dark,
in a light drizzle, just as we arrived.
Mario and Blanca are
both awake to see us off. We drive to the airport with José, now a familiar
face, and hand him all the remaining cash we have, which happens to be exactly
the fare.
Watching people at the airport, I recall a statistic I once came across online: in Ecuador, 19% of people are overweight and 9% undernourished. The food is simply in the wrong place. Around us, the Finns are already gathering.
Miami airport is empty at first, but then crowds appear and form queues that fill entire corridors and lead nowhere. Deafeningly loud music plays. Where they sell beer, you can’t get food. Where you can get food, there’s no beer. Asking for pasta causes a small commotion among the staff. Everything is served in disposable containers. The chairs are uncomfortable. There are few books, and all of them are some garbage. What kind of country is this?
In his book “Fighting Like a Community”, Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld arrives at the conclusion that Indigenous people are not just rural folk. Imagine that. Before the arrival of the Spanish colonists, Inca culture included cities as well. An Indigenous person may live in either urban or rural settings. Moving from a village to a city does not necessarily mean abandoning one’s culture. Indigenous people do not, in fact, live in museums, though from the vantage point of Quito, it can sometimes seem that way.
New Scientist reports that birdwatching improves cognitive function. Recommended, it seems, as a defence against ageing. Observing anything, really, that engages perception, memory, and attention, will do.
In the meantime, Satu Rämö has managed to publish two sequels to her crime novel.
We got away from the Ecuadorians, we got away from the Americans, and we even managed to get away from the Finns.
Ecuador left a favourable impression. Perhaps because we never encountered corruption, pickpockets, kidnappings, traffic accidents, or drug trafficking. It feels relatively clean. There is litter, but not much. Newer architecture tends to be unattractive, though at least colourful; older buildings are beautiful, if sometimes a little worn. In Quito’s old town, strangers greet you. Prices feel familiar. We even saw the Estonian flag in two places, despite claims that Estonians rarely visit Ecuador.
National identity is a complicated matter. Ethnicity is still closely tied to place, and the racism inherited from the colonial era has proven slow to disappear. Floresmilo Simbaña has described the country as having been born without an integrated economy, without clearly defined territory, and without a unified national culture, its people dispersed and divided.
There are roughly as many speakers of Indigenous languages in Ecuador as there are Estonians. Bilingual education means that Indigenous children are taught Spanish alongside their native language, but mestizos are not taught Kichwa or other Indigenous languages. Although Indigenous people make up only about 15% of the population (or 2%, depending on the source), they are politically organised enough to bring the country to a standstill through protests when necessary.
And one more thing: Ecuador was the first country in the world to grant legal rights to ecosystems in its constitution.
Watching people at the airport, I recall a statistic I once came across online: in Ecuador, 19% of people are overweight and 9% undernourished. The food is simply in the wrong place. Around us, the Finns are already gathering.
Miami airport is empty at first, but then crowds appear and form queues that fill entire corridors and lead nowhere. Deafeningly loud music plays. Where they sell beer, you can’t get food. Where you can get food, there’s no beer. Asking for pasta causes a small commotion among the staff. Everything is served in disposable containers. The chairs are uncomfortable. There are few books, and all of them are some garbage. What kind of country is this?
In his book “Fighting Like a Community”, Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld arrives at the conclusion that Indigenous people are not just rural folk. Imagine that. Before the arrival of the Spanish colonists, Inca culture included cities as well. An Indigenous person may live in either urban or rural settings. Moving from a village to a city does not necessarily mean abandoning one’s culture. Indigenous people do not, in fact, live in museums, though from the vantage point of Quito, it can sometimes seem that way.
New Scientist reports that birdwatching improves cognitive function. Recommended, it seems, as a defence against ageing. Observing anything, really, that engages perception, memory, and attention, will do.
In the meantime, Satu Rämö has managed to publish two sequels to her crime novel.
We got away from the Ecuadorians, we got away from the Americans, and we even managed to get away from the Finns.
Ecuador left a favourable impression. Perhaps because we never encountered corruption, pickpockets, kidnappings, traffic accidents, or drug trafficking. It feels relatively clean. There is litter, but not much. Newer architecture tends to be unattractive, though at least colourful; older buildings are beautiful, if sometimes a little worn. In Quito’s old town, strangers greet you. Prices feel familiar. We even saw the Estonian flag in two places, despite claims that Estonians rarely visit Ecuador.
National identity is a complicated matter. Ethnicity is still closely tied to place, and the racism inherited from the colonial era has proven slow to disappear. Floresmilo Simbaña has described the country as having been born without an integrated economy, without clearly defined territory, and without a unified national culture, its people dispersed and divided.
There are roughly as many speakers of Indigenous languages in Ecuador as there are Estonians. Bilingual education means that Indigenous children are taught Spanish alongside their native language, but mestizos are not taught Kichwa or other Indigenous languages. Although Indigenous people make up only about 15% of the population (or 2%, depending on the source), they are politically organised enough to bring the country to a standstill through protests when necessary.
And one more thing: Ecuador was the first country in the world to grant legal rights to ecosystems in its constitution.
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