You probably noticed the gates in front of our apartment and the bars on the windows - this is common in all of Latin America. All of the houses, apartments, and businesses have security like this. It is also common to have barb or razor wire on top of the front entrance, or even broken glass, to prevent someone from climbing over the top. Most businesses have metal doors or gates that they pull down when they are closed - they roll them up above the entrance during business hours, and pull them down and lock them at the end of the day. It is also common to have a guard out front or in the store, especially in banks.
To get into our apartment, we have several locks to open. The front gate has a padlock and a deadbolt, the bottom entrance has a metal door with a double-deadbolt followed by a wooden door with a deadbolt and a doorknob lock, then we go upstairs and have a wooden door with a deadbolt and doorknob lock. To get out to the small balcony, we have a wooden door with a double-deadbolt followed by a metal door with a double-deadbolt. That's just the way it is here, and it doesn't really feel that weird once you get used to it.
The people here are courteous, respectful, and friendly. Being clean and presentable are very important. They like to make sure their teeth are clean, we often see people brushing their teeth out in public - we saw a parking lot attendant brushing his inside the booth and we also saw a cab driver brushing his outside his car in front of the school. Maybe we should be so concerned!
Watching the traffic is amusing, although I am impressed that they mostly follow the traffic rules. Compared to the U.S., it's crazy here, but I was expecting a little more chaos. Maybe my memory of Ecuador traffic has been exaggerated, or maybe I've seen this style of driving enough that it's not as shocking, I'm not sure. The motorcycle drivers are a different story - they are in a world all to themselves. They drive between cars, around cars, and beside cars instead of keeping in line with the rest of the traffic. At a stop light, all of the motorcycles weave their way up to the front of the line, and when the light turns green, the first 8-10 vehicles to go through are always motorcycles. It's pretty funny.
We've also discovered that the sidewalks/walkways double as parking spaces. The stores and cafes are so close to the road, and all the buildings are so close together, that the cars don't have anywhere else to park except on the walkway. It makes walking down the busy streets interesting and challenging. Sidewalks also serve as "shortcuts" - if traffic is backed up at an intersection, and a driver is planning to make a right turn while the drivers in front of him are waiting to make a left turn, the driver will take the sidewalk to get around and go the direction he needs to go. Around here, you always have to be on the lookout for the unexpected.
Here's an a example of a cultural difference: if you are meeting with someone (for example, a teacher or a store clerk), and another person comes into the room or into the store and needs assistance, it is more polite in this culture to acknowledge the "new" person and help them even though they are already in the middle of helping you. It is seen as rude if each person is not recognized and addressed. In the U.S., in general, each person is helped in the order that they come into the store, and that is seen as the respectful way to do it, but here it is different.
Hope you have enjoyed reading some of the differences we are encountering here; it's interesting to say the least. We'll do our best to help you "experience" what our lives are like here.
