Ecuador is a country where I have been to many places. It's a pity that I can't stay here for a long time. Life here makes me enjoy it, and I can go there to support my old age in my lifetime. Then I'll be content in my life. As far as more than 90 countries I have been to so far, Ecuador is the only country that I don't want to leave after going there. The climate here is pleasant, there are many beautiful women, prices are firm, and public security is harmonious. It's a good place for the elderly. After personal experience, the real face of Ecuador is even more wonderful than what is said on the Internet.
When I first came, my colleague told me that if I go to a local country to play, I must remember to bring my suitcase. He told me that the price here is very good, especially the dazzling fruit here is quite cheap.
It turns out that this country is located in the tropical rain forest climate zone and is also an equatorial country. Tropical fruits are abundant here, which are not only sweet, but also nutritious.
On the day of arrival, we successfully got the documents. With the encouragement of my colleagues, my colleagues and I really took empty suitcases to play in the local area, hoping to gain a lot.
We came to this country on August 14, 2020. In the morning, several people came to the bus stop at the door with suitcases. The bus stop here really hurts me. No Chinese, no English, all Spanish, I don't know where to go.
The stop sign seen from the bus stop has only one starting point to the end point, and there are several lines without any other stops.
Strangely, after we saw the blue bus coming to the platform, we followed the others directly on the bus. I originally thought that the buses here were the same as those in our country, and there would be a point-to-point reminder or text explanation of the platform near the roof. But when we really got on the bus, we found nothing inside.
I'm curious how people get off here. I found that everyone seemed to be looking out of the window intently. At first I thought they were all watching the scenery. Later I learned that they were looking at the sign outside. Once they find their place, they stand up and ring the doorbell.
It seems that the bus here doesn't even have a prompt to arrive at the station. You have to look at it yourself, otherwise you won't know when you arrive. But for flight attendants like us, there is no clear goal of getting off wherever we go and where we are busy.
The fare here is very cheap, very cheap. It only costs 3 yuan RMB for 20 kilometers. At that time, we didn't know where to go. The toll collector asked us where to go, but we didn't know where to play, and the staff couldn't understand what we said.
Fortunately, my colleague was smart enough to take out a translator and translate it on the mobile phone, telling each other that we were going to a busy place, so we each gave a dollar. I was worried that one dollar was not enough, but he gave us some small coins. According to the calculation, we only spent about $0.35, about RMB 2 yuan.
In order not to get lost, one of my colleagues specially looked at our location on Google to prevent the driver from finding our location when we came back.
The roadside environment was beautiful along the way, and the air here was very fresh. At that time, the temperature was only 19 degrees, which made people feel very comfortable. My colleague told me that the temperature in Ecuador is already the highest, and the temperature here is basically maintained at around 18 degrees all the year round.
It is a little hard for me to imagine that an equatorial country is cool instead of hot, which subverts my passionate idea of equatorial countries.
This place is really like this. Come and experience it. I really think it's a good place for the elderly. There is no winter, people in the car wear short sleeves, which is easy to see, and the temperature difference here will not be great at night. If you feel afraid of catching cold, you can also bring a coat.
In order to find a suitable place to wander around, several of us also pay special attention to the streets outside in order to find a bustling area.
We rode for about 40 minutes, as if we came to an old street with a long history. The buildings here are rich, with a sense of history and culture, and there are more pedestrians on the street. Colleagues urged us to get off the bus and come into the street. We found that people around us were very enthusiastic, but it was strange to see each of us holding a suitcase.
When we got to the street, we looked around and found that it was a bit like our country. This street is very busy and people here work hard. There are stalls selling all kinds of cheap goods by the roadside.
Compared with other countries I have been to, there are too few such lively street scenes. The atmosphere here is just like the streets of our country. Very interesting. You can buy a lot of things in the streets and shopping centers.
Since I came to buy fruit this time, I began to look for a fruit market.
Before I came here, I knew some ways to buy fruit in local countries. Generally, fruits on the street are more expensive. There is a special fruit market here, where fruits will be very cheap.
But as this is my first visit, I'm not familiar with this place, so I haven't found it for a long time. We also asked some people whose English seems to be not very good.
In desperation, my colleagues chose to buy a telephone flow card here. Colleagues went to a drugstore and asked, and they told us that there was a store next door, which really embarrassed us.
After coming to the store and taking out the mobile phone, the staff saw the idea that we wanted a mobile phone card. The staff conveniently took out three cards and three primary colors and showed us the corresponding set meal.
You've learned a lot. The three cards here are three operators. The traffic of the pink card is 5G, the free call duration is 30min, and the price is USD 7, which is about 50 yuan RMB. The flow of 10G is 10 USD, and the flow of 20 G is 16 USD.
After reading the pink card, we read the blue card. The blue card here has a lot of traffic, and the price will be a little more expensive, which is almost good. And the staff told me that blue cards are better than pink cards in rural areas. The staff also introduced us to a red card, which I remember was CLARO card. This kind of card may be equivalent to our mobile card, with the best network and relatively expensive price.
The three cards are a bit like China Mobile Unicom Telecom. We will stay in the local area for a few days this time, so my colleague finally chose to buy a blue card with 20G traffic, and no longer need to look for fruit casually like a headless fly.
With the Internet, you can open Google and Facebook to show everything nearby. Through Google, we found a fruit market near our location.
From the moment I walked into the market, I smelled the fragrance of all kinds of fruits. Maybe this is the fruit paradise in my mind. There are so many colorful fruits in the market. In a place near the window, we saw that his family's fruit was the most abundant. I probably asked about the price of fruit.
A kilo of bananas costs 3 cents, about 65438 RMB +0.8 yuan RMB, a kilo of kiwi fruit costs 5 cents, about 3.5 yuan RMB, and a big papaya costs me 3 yuan RMB. The fruits here are too cheap, and there are many kinds. Mango is so big that I can smell its sweetness before eating it.
Knowing the price of these fruits, it seems that my colleagues and I don't want money. It can be said that the boss's shelves are almost empty, and everyone is packing in a hurry. People around us thought we were robbing the fruit stand and surrounded us. Some people are still laughing at us.
That scene was particularly embarrassing. At that time, each of us had a full suitcase, but there were some mistakes. Everyone thinks it's too inconvenient to drag the suitcase. So I have to tell my boss that we need to store the suitcase here temporarily. The boss is very enthusiastic and trusts us. It doesn't matter if we give him money when we get back.
After temporarily storing the fruit, we followed the market to the supermarket on the other side. This supermarket is very big. Looking at the price of the supermarket carefully, we found two anomalies here.
The packaged foods on the shelves are basically imported foods, such as instant noodles and French fries. These things are imported, and the prices are particularly expensive, while local agricultural products are very cheap.
Agriculture and animal husbandry are very good here, and meat and vegetables are very cheap.
A kilogram of beef tenderloin is 2.6 US dollars, about RMB 17 yuan, and a kilogram of front leg beef is 2.0 US dollars, about RMB 13 yuan. Judging from the overall price, the most expensive part of a cow is only US$ 4, which is about RMB in 25 yuan.
This price is higher than that of beef in more than 90 countries I have been to, except Africa.
Except for the low level of the park, there is no other country with such a low level.
The price of pork here is also very cheap. When I came, I saw the unified market price of 0 1 1 in 2020. One kilogram of front leg meat is 2.6 US dollars, about 14 yuan, and one kilogram of rear leg meat is 1.8 US dollars, about 10 yuan. The whole price list is clearly visible, and it is the most expensive.
Meat is cheap and vegetables are cheaper. Potatoes, onions and tomatoes here may be local agricultural and sideline products. 2 yuan can buy 7 kg of tomatoes in RMB, and 1 RMB can buy three green onions. Potatoes are also very cheap. Two dollars can buy a big bag, all of which are sold in one bag. It is estimated that a bag weighs five or six pounds.
It can be said that the price here is really cheap. Living here, in short, if you only consider food, you can't spend 1000 a month, and the food here is also very cheap.
We didn't intend to have lunch here, but we came across a food market near the supermarket. This country is very interesting. The food here will not be the same as ours, one here and one there. All the food here is concentrated together, and everyone can come here directly to find what they want to eat if they want to eat.
It was because we watched everyone come to this comprehensive food market that we followed them in and found that they were eating, so we planned to find something to taste here.
Entering the food market is like entering the food street, with rows of food. It was probably not the punctual meal time at that time, and there were not many people inside. There are many kinds of food, and every chef is dressed in a formal suit, which is particularly clean.
Because of the language difference with the catering boss, we ordered some delicious food and found it delicious after reading it.
At that time, I ordered a $2.6 rice, and I could eat rice abroad. It was really sweet. Actually, I tasted it and it tasted ok. Mainly beef lungs, eggs, curry sauce, rice and avocado.
I found that my colleagues and I ordered different meals. Almost all the dishes served contained a kind of fruit, that is avocado. Avocado here seems to be free, and it is indispensable in all kinds of dishes, just like seasoning. Later, I learned that avocado has the function of removing fishy smell, and everyone likes to use it as seasoning.
In order to seize the time to play, several people wolfed down their meals and went directly to the street to play. The atmosphere here is quite good. After walking for a long time, several people happened to meet a school whose students had just finished school.
The students are curious about our looks. A courageous young man came to ask which country we came from and said that he wanted to make friends with us.
I think this child is mature, not like a 17-year-old child at all. When the little boy learned that we were traveling, he introduced us to the scenic spots here, telling us that our location is the historical old street in the central area, which is more of a cultural attraction, while the natural scenic spots have to go north to add some natural and cultural landscapes, but they have to take a bus.
I am really surprised that all the boys are friendly. He is willing to show us around the park and introduce us to the simple daily life of the local people.
One of them talked about the income problem in their country, which made me feel that what the children said was not credible. But in reality, I later confirmed the little boy's words with the workers on board. Indeed, as he said, their wages are very low.
The way Ecuadorians go to work is very similar to that in China. They basically go to work at about 8: 30, and they also have a fixed rest time at noon, usually two and a half hours at noon. If you want to have lunch at noon, you must finish it before 12: 30, otherwise they will close the door and go to work at 3 pm. There is also a night market at night. The night market is very lively, drinking and singing, and there are food stalls and barbecues all over the street.
The income of restaurant owners here is not very high, and the wages of ordinary employees are indeed very low. The average stall boy earns 500 yuan a month, which is more than 3,000 yuan, and the fruit sold in the market costs 600 yuan a month, which is about 3,700 yuan. If you count the population, the population of this country is more than 1000 million, and Quito has more than 2 million, which is still a place where you can make more money.
Compared with ordinary people, the salaries of professional and technical personnel here are ok. The average pilot's salary can reach 28,000 yuan a month, and it is still calculated by time. When the port is busy, the pilot's salary can reach 50 thousand yuan. Professionals like this are really popular in Ecuador.
People here are very relaxed in their daily life. There are people in parks and streets. Some people go climbing mountains or going to the seaside in the suburbs.
The people here give me the feeling that there is urgency and slowness, and there is urgency in slowness. When we are in a hurry, we all work hard. When it's slow, as long as we get off work, we are very relaxed and can completely ignore our work.
In the communication with the little boy, he told me that my location is actually a very prosperous place in Ecuador. He also reminded me that there are many people in this bustling area, but there are still some thieves, but as long as they are not too rich, there is no problem.
The little boy really thought that we had been traveling here for a long time, so he asked where we lived and told me that if we lived in the central historical block, we should live in the north. He especially suggested that I go to Carina Rona Park, saying that the public security there is the best in Quito and the house price is cheap. A three-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment costs only 65,438+0,000 RMB per month. Near this park, there are all kinds of conditions, including banks, embassies and so on.
Knowing that we are sailors, we are more interested in us and hope to take him to our ship to play.
In order to thank the little boy for his kind help, we finally promised him to visit our ship.
The little boy was very grateful to us and felt that he had finally witnessed the biggest ship in the world. In the communication with him, I learned that the education in their country is still very good, but he feels that there is no navigation major in their country and hopes to study abroad and learn this industry in the future.
In Ecuador, children in every family can enjoy compulsory education from primary school to secondary school. The state will provide free compulsory education for children, and only the university will pay for itself.
This practice also makes the illiteracy rate in this country very low, only 5.5%.
We stayed in the local area for seven days, and the little boy spent four days with us in his spare time. He must be sincere in inviting us to his house for dinner. For the sake of unfamiliar environment and safety, we finally declined his kindness.
During the four days of communication and play with him, I also learned a lot, which is considered as a long knowledge.
Ecuador's overall economy is still relatively poor. Oil is Ecuador's main economic pillar, followed by bananas and cocoa. You know, banana production and export are the first in the world, so-called banana kingdom. However, the bananas we bought on the boat were not delicious. A colleague bought a big banana, which is cheap, and it tastes worse, which is cheap.
It can be said that this time I had a deep play experience, learned a lot, experienced a lot, learned a lot and tasted a lot, mainly because the environment here is really good and cost-effective. It is completely a standard pension country. If I can come to this country for retirement in my lifetime, I will be satisfied in my life.
Compared with China, living here and enjoying more leisure life, although the salary of local people is very low, it will not affect your life after retirement at all. After all, the consumption here is very low, so you don't have to worry about your lack of money. After all, 10 thousand yuan can enjoy at least half a year's life.