I thought the following might give you an idea of life in Quito or Latin America in General - I have cut and paste it from a Facebook group called ... "You know you've lived in Quito when ...", if the author of that group objects I apologise !
YOU KNOW YOU'VE LIVED IN QUITO WHEN ....
-many children have run up to you at one time to shine your shoes
-Porta! Movistar! Porta!
-there is a Reina for everything!
-you have been called: reina, querida, preciosa, mi hijita, mi amor, guapa, gringa, mamacita...
-Football is more important than anything!
-precious stones more than $10 are the gringo price
-if you donīt get sick to your stomach at least once a week you must not be eating
-if the doors on the bus still shut then itīs not full enough
-sauce on pizza is a foreign concept
-you canīt breathe at an intersection
-you have memorized the names of the Trolebus stops (I have !!)
-$3 for lunch is really expensive
-buses, taxis, motorcycles, police vehicles, and even the bikes honk at the gringas
-you can buy 100 limes at the corner for a $1
-you have almost been killed crossing a round-about
-you can distinguish between the honks of a car at another car or at you
-the street dogs are smarter at crossing the roads than we are
-you carry your umbrella with you every day
-you can go from overheated to freezing in 30 minutes
-you feel like you can actually take a deep breath anywhere outside of Quito
-the Mariscal and Gringolandia are synonymous
-no matter the age, any Ecuadorian man will be excited to see a gringa's ankles on the Trolebus
-you have your favorite bus vender and can imitate them
-you wonder how in the world they get 121 songs on a cd and still sell them for a dollar
-blockbuster movies are sold for $2 sometimes before they are even in the theaters
-the mountain view never gets old
-rice is served at every meal, every day
-Coca-Cola is the new water and it even tastes better
-old town Quito feels like a different city
-you have become accustomed to breaking up the conversation for the 757 to fly over
-children will pinch you to buy the $1 rose at 2am
-roses are 25 for $1 and still thought of as special
-the children are the worst pick-pocketers and the sneakiest!
-all the buses have curtains with fringe on the windows
-a bus isnīt official if it doesnīt have a Jesus sign of some sort
-youīve adopted your own panaderia, pirated movie store, mini mart tienda, movistar man and internet cafe/phone cabina
-halls cough drops are considered sweets
-there is a certain button on the taxi meters for gringos - it charges more
-there are three races outside of Latin: chinos, gringos, negros
-reggeaton is played at all hours of the day, even on over night buses
-you have seen every Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone movie on the buses
-only the pride of the 1980s and 90s American pop makes it to the radio
-you have never seen so many different types and sizes of bananas
-garlic makes any meal that much better
-even the poorest of the poor have cell phones
-youīve been hit on by a security guard and/or police officer
-you have no respect or care in the world for the police officers
-you never thought white bread could be so tasty
-seeing four snow-covered mountains/volcanoes on your way to work is usually a highlight of your day
-you can guarantee darkness by 6:30pm
-you can never expect them to have change for your $20 bill, or even the $10 bill!
-if the total is $5.15 expect to have the 15 cents ready too
-the electricity goes out for apparently no reason
-no hot water? oh well
-all taxi directions must have a cross street
-sometimes you need five different keys just to enter your house
-family dogs hang out on the roof
-you realize that cui (guinea pig) doesn't really taste like chicken
-you know it's 3:30pm because of the thunderstorm
-throwing toilet paper in the waste basket instead of the toilet has become a habit
-you still get upset when Terminal Terrestre charges you 20cents to leave the crappy place
-a credit card means nothing, just some plastic
-Visa is NOT everywhere you want to be
-pizza delivery comes faster than the ambulance
-the public are more scared of the president than the active volcanos that surround the city
-you have witnessed a political protest or overthrow
-the city buses race each other through the streets
-you can actually go up hill both ways
-casual drinking on the streets doesn't get a second thought
- you hand a cashier a 50 cent piece for something that costs 30 cents and they ask you if you have any smaller coins
- you haggle with taxis for a mere 50 cents
- you get turned down by taxis because they're not headed where you want to go
-a bottle of water is sold for 25 cents and three bottles for a dollar
- you have had to replace your $4 street sunglasses about 4 times
- you have to wait about 3 days for your clothes to dry because they got caught in probably four rain storms being on the roof
Hope some of that made you smile !
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