Job Discussion Forums

[matttheboy]

Bag wise i always have an extendable lock (like a ski lock) which i attach to my bag and to the chair. A lock like this is also very very useful when travelling on buses overnight, and pretty much anywhere where you want to make sure of your belongings. You can get one in pretty much any travel or camping shop.

As for the passport,i met some guys who had scanned the photo page of their passport, reduced it to credit card size and then laminated it. They said that even the police accepted this (although this was in Peru).Personally, i only ever carried a copy and my UK photocard driving licence. I only carry ID here in case i get run over and someone needs to ID the body or something. If you ever do long distance bus travel in Ecuador, you'll need to carry your passport, though.

And yeah, after dark is dodgy. In the tourist area (Mariscal/gringolandia where i lived happily for a few months) there are basically 4 blocks which are safe (the grid formed by Reina Victoria, Lizardo Garcia, JL Mera and Calama). In particular, the other side of Colon is bad after dark (this was where i got done over, after 3 months in Quito i got a bit coc ky, drank too much and refused to pay $5 for 150 metre taxi ride. but i got a good story out of it...)

As for money, i used to go to an ATM with a friend, withdraw the maximum amount i could and then go straight home. I'd only go out with what i needed. When you get paid you can cash your cheques at ServiPago (i think), but get used to queueing.

BTW, i left Quito in December 2003 so i don't really know what the current personal safety situation but i should imagine it's no better and probably worse than when i was there.

Enjoy it though!

[moonraven]

Matt: Things have gotten much rougher since you were there. The Internet cafe where I was robbed is on Wilson and JLMera. And I was robbed before noon.

Your ATM card strategy is sound--but as both of my cards are debit cards that can be used to make purchases (and therefore not carry cash around) it's convenient not to leave them in a safe deposit box.

Frankly, I don't think it's worth it to work in either Guayaquil or Quito. They are both boring spots with very little available culture (museums are closed on weekends in most cases, and after 4 or 4:30 during the week--when people would be able to visit them!; Quito has one art cinema but it sure doesn't compare with the ones in Caracas or Mexico City; musical ops are few and mediocre, etc.) I enjoyed the week or 2 I spent traveling through the sierra in 2003, but don't feel excessively inclined to do so again. In short, the benefits are few and the disadvantages are many. The only thing of interest that happened while I was in Quito was that the government fell--and even in Ecuador that won't happen frequently enough to ensure being entertained.

Just in case anyone thinks I am sour on Latin America--don't even go there. I will be retiring quite happily in Mexico (which I have had as my base for nearly 13 years) if I am not run over by a combi bus in the meantime. And I will continue visiting Venezuela as frequently as I can--beautiful country with very upbeat, happy people--no Ecuadorian-style sad sacks. Which doesn't mean they are ALL sad sacks--I met some really nice folks there--but sad sacks in a boring environment leaves this hyperactive bird off at the airport.

Incidentally, quite�os blame the crime in their city on poor parental guidance(falta de educaci�n) and just plain cussedness(sorry, I won't translate that one)--NOT on poverty.

[amy1982]

yeah, that's what i did all the time in buenos aires. it really never bothered me, but i had a purse with a longish strap, so i didn't even notice it if the purse was in my lap. (i can see how it would be uncomfortable if the strap wasn't long enough).

[Justin Trullinger]

Dear all,

About bags on laps- what you do is put your left hand in the bag at all times (see why I'm a crap typist) and hang on to the nine milimeter pistol, so that if they pull the bag off your hand, you just have to work the slide and open fire...just kidding. Really, it's just a question of keeping it in sight for me, but Matt's lock sounds like the best solution.

Yes, I have been "unsuccessfully robbed," but generally not with unusual levels of violence. Bag snatching and pickpocketing are rampant, but violent assault seems quite rare, compared to many south american cities. (Always provided that you don't appear to be carrying a laptop. That IS when the guns come out.)

But honestly, I feel safer living here than I did in Barcelona (el Raval, I admit) or London. (close to Stockwell)

Although I find that Moonraven and I coincide in a lot of opinions, especially the political ones, it's question of different strokes for different folks, cause I�m having one helluva time in Quito. While the museum offerings are not world class, the Museum of the City, the Chapel of Man, Guayasamin's house, and many of the old churches make for a nice afternoon. (And all of these but Guayasamin's house are open weekends.)
Also the Casa de la Cultura and the Mitad del Mundo(tacky, I admit) are worth a look. (The little "Inti Yan" museum behind the actual Mitad del Mundo complex is precious, albeit pretty small to justify the bus ride.)

And the teatro de Sucre gets interesting companies from Colombia and Venezuela every few weeks, which often put on good theatre. (Way too expensive, but sometimes you NEED theatre.) And of course you can always rent/borrow/squat a small building and put on theatre yourself.

The cinema is sh%t, no question. But there's a good market in pirate DVD for a few dollars.

Regards,
Justin

PS I am painting an unrealistically rosy picture of Quito. Painting it, but also living it, and doing okay. What's happened is, I have a good job that gives me opportunities to contribute, and that I really enjoy. So, I have to do my best to find the life I want in this sh@thole of a town. And it's possible.

[matttheboy]

I'd agree with Justin on this.

Quito itself is not the most inspiring of cities but it has its charm. The old town is beautiful, just really watch yourself there, the Mariscal has some really nice (but horribly over-priced) restaurants-the Thai place, Tomate pizza (really good), El Rey Sandwiches and the Indian, run by an indian guy from aldershot in england on JL Mera half a block from L Garcia is top-notch even for an english curry lover like me- curry is england's national food!

The Salsa clubs are great (mayo 68 on L Garcia is small and cool), the rum's about $2 a bottle, the beer's surprisingly nice (pilsener) and gets you drunk pretty quickly due to the altitude and Quito makes a great base for doing everything Ecuador has to offer as the whole country is within around 12 hours bus ride from there. Mindo and Papallacta hot springs are well worth a visit for example.

Ecuador is tiny and is a brilliant introduction to South America and its culture as it has everything South America has to offer; beach, rain forest, mountains, indigenous culture, crime and excitement(!). Other countries have these things (Peru, Bolivia, Brazil) but none in such a small space. The flip-side is the crime and danger aspects. I never felt particularly unsafe, especially during the day when i was happy to wander around listening to my I Pod and carried a work bag that vaguely resembled a computer bag from KLS (the school i worked at). I was mugged at 'gun point' and i know 5 other people who were also mugged at real gun point. I was the only one of us doing something silly (as mentioned before, walking home drunk at 4am). But...we all survived. If you just hand over what you've got you won't get hurt. It's not like in england where they'll beat the shi te out of you and, as an aside, steal your money.

I had a fantastic time and made some really good friends, local and foreign. However, it's not somewhere i'm itching to go back to at all. Once you've been and left i think it's somewhere to look back on with fond memories and...leave it at that.

[scoutfinch]

Alrighty then...

I appreciate your opinions and advice, both the positive and the negative. I will be sure to be "on my toes" everywhere I go in the hopes of avoiding being the victim of crime. I'm sorry to hear that some of you have been subjected to this. It is a reality I am willing to accept, though. I have committed the next two years of my life to this place, so I figure the best I can do is go into it with my eyes wide open and with a good attitude.

Another question - healthcare - what is the quality of it? Hopefully I can just take care of yearly apppointments when I come here to visit, but if I were to need a dentist, Ob/Gyn, or general practitioner, where would be the best place to go and would could I expect?

Thanks for letting me pick your brains some more...

[moonraven]

The American School undoubtedly has a health plan. Unofrtunately, most schools use Salud--which is really pure b.s. as it's a plan where you go to certain doctors only, pay gringo prices and then wait months to be reimbursed a fraction of it. If you are young and healthy, you probably won't use it.

I found that when I went to a pharmacy to get my blood pressure meds (which turned out not to be available in Ecuador!), the pharmacist collared a very sweet doctor who treats folks like me who have serious renal insufficiency, and she sorted through the possible substitute meds to find one that was the least problematic (at least on paper) for me. Didn't charge a cent, either. But it's the luck of the draw; when I went to a closer pharmacy to get aspirin and asked the guy running it where I could get my blood pressure checked he recommended a clinic not far away--and when I asked him if they charged to check it he gave me a blast of doodoo that could have been replaced, from my perspective, with a courteous "Probably". (In Mexico this service is free just about everywhere.)

Hygiene is not great is Quito restaurants--especially the delicious Indian ones. So be prepared to take a dose of secnidazol (brand name secnidal) soon after you arrive, and more or less every 3 months afterwards.

[matttheboy]

[moonraven]

I also have a strong stomach, and never get the poops--but parasites and the poops are 2 different things. I took a dose of secnidal after trying two or 3 restaurants there--and knew I had picked up something, because my energy level--which was going down--popped back up within a few hours. A sure sign.

[scoutfinch]

Is Secnidal available over the counter there? Or do I have to have a prescription?

I have also heard horror stories about amoebas, parasites, etc. I have actually already started taking some probiotics supplements (my health-nut mom insisted), so hopefully they will be helpful.

Thanks.
Liz

[Justin Trullinger]

Hey again,
Health care here is extremely variable. Go to a ob/gyn specialist only on the recommendation of another WOMAN! If you need a doctor, go to one who was trained outside of Ecuador. (PM me if you need the details of a good one.)
You can buy secnidazol, and in fact practically anything else over the counter. (I was once sold codeine for a headache. This is not good.) But I'd go easy with this. Doctors have different opinions on the long term effects of continually taking the stuff, but I say don't touch it unless you need it. (By need, I mean have symptoms of parasitic infection.) In any case, no one drug is effective against all the parasites you can get here. (We've got Giardia, several varieties of worms, amoebas, bacterias, you name it, you can get it here.) So unless you've been here long enough that you probably have ALL the above mentioned parasites (which does happen, then you take "the bomb.") you probably need to see a good doctor and have reliable tests. (Involves pooping in a container; no fun, but I really think over medicating or miss medicating comes out worse in the end.)


A note on Ecuadorian pharmacies. They will sell you anything, but make sure it is the right thing. Mistakes happen. Also, as they often sell individual pills rather than the whole box or bottle, you may not receive the product safety information you need. You can get this on the internet. But be sure to ask the pharmacist ( AND your doctor ) any specific questions you have. And NEVER drink with anti-parasitics.


Regards,
Justin

[moonraven]

You can buy most meds without a prescription all over Latin America.

The stuff you are taking can't hurt you, but parasites are picked up from water and food that are contaminated. You have to get rid of them or they can do a lot of damage.

[Justin Trullinger]

Agreed, on the source of parasites. Other ways to minimize risks are to NEVER drink tap water, and to wash all raw fruit and veg in "killol," a sterilizing solution available in supermarkets.

Cook everything thoroughly, and don't eat salads or raw foods in restaurants you don't really trust.

Opinions vary about the advisability of taking secnidal and other antiparasitics regularly. I would talk to a doctor you trust. In any case, there are still many different parasites here, so you'll need to make sure your treatment is effective with the ones you (probably) have.

Regards,

Justin

[moonraven]

I have taken secnidal every 3 or 4 months for the past 12 years. Any health problems I have bear no relationsjip whatsoever to anti-parasital use.

[amy1982]

still talk to a doctor about it though. there are always different risk factors that can affect recommendations about which medications to take and for how long...