The Lonely Planet would have you believe that Quito in particular, and parts of Ecuador in general are the crime centres of South America and though caution may be sound advice in a country which has some social problems, I'm not sure their warnings of woe and violence are entirely justified. We may have been astoundingly lucky in that no crime affected us at all, I accept, but I found Ecuador to be a very peacable and friendly place with people being incredibly patient about the spanish (lack of) and very willing to help with directions and advice when it obviously did not benefit them at all. In Quito, art exhibitions are regularly put up: when we were there, multiple ceramics of the national bird, the hummingbird, which were variously painted or crafted by over 50 artists, and an exhibition of black and white photographs of Quito, then and now. The only spot of graffitti I saw was on the picture of the bull fight, and that was a pointed protest against cruelty to animals. All this work was out on the streets and so very vulnerable to abuse, yet it was all respected. I wondered if they would last so intact in London?
Every culture interprets the story according to their own perameters and for me, definite highlights in Ecuador were statues of the Madonna wearing a panama hat and Jesus and his disciples tucking into guy (roasted guinea pig) and choclo ( sweetcorn kernels) at the last supper!
Ecuador also seemed quite traditional in its ways. Almost all restaurants were Ecuadorian cuisine with little call for new dishes; the only 'foreign' foods seemed to be chinese, mexican and pizza but all 3 have at core the same ingredients as Ecuadorian foods - rice, beans, meat, bread,potatoes, chilli sauce! Ecuadorians are proud to be Ecuadorian and celebrate a range of anniversaries to do with the country's past and establishment. Their dedication to their football team is fanatical and in that way they are a stereotype of latino americano, but otherwise they will proudly state their nationality, as nationalism is not seen as a negative here. Women will tell you that they want to be married and be mothers, whilst they also hold senior positions at work in an albeit traditional yet also progressive country.
