My connection to Ecuador is that I learned to speak Spanish there over an 8-month stay in 1998, returned in 1999 to teach English at a couple of private high schools and the Fulbright Commission, married an Ecuadorian woman, Flor Maria Freire, in 2000, and have returned to Ecuador several times since to work and visit family. Most recently, Flor and I lived in Ambato, Ecuador in 2008-9. We are planning on returning to Ecuador in 2012 for an indeterminate period of time. Maybe we'll stay.
I am new to the blog universe, as I'm sure this blog shows. I've allowed advertising on this site, but from what I'm learned in the short time I've been doing this, this blog won't make any money. I'm going to pitch a few cameras and see what happens. But no matter what, I plan to continue this blog as a labor of love. I should be able to manage one post a day.
Most of the pictures are from Flor's and my last stay in Ambato. I didn't take the pictures with the idea of posting them on the web or even showing them to anyone outside of our family. If the pictures look like snapshots, it's because they are. I have better photographic equipment now, and I've learned more about photography. I should do a better job at picture-taking when Flor and I return to Ecuador in 2012.
I could kick myself when I think of the photo opportunities I've missed in Ecuador. In 1998 I visited Yasuni National Park (no tourism allowed; I went with a university group that had a research permit), traveled the coast of Ecuador by bus during an El Niño year, through many cities which had lost power and suffered flooding, then traveled the entire spine of the country from Loja north to Otovalo, and visited the Galapagos--all without a camera. Near the end of that stay, I got an old film SLR and managed to take a few pictures, which are currently in my sister-in-law's apartment in Quito. Those missed 1998 opportunities were just for starters. There are so many other things in Ecuador that I remember, but which I never photographed--I don't even know where to begin. But of those missed opportunities were converted into word pictures, memories that I can share through commentary. That's why I write so heavily in this blog, to express those memories.
I spent enough time living and working in Ecuador to feel that I actually belonged there, and was not visiting. After a while, my life became about grocery shopping, laundry, work, and what was on television at night, just as it would have anywhere else. And the things that impressed me were not the main tourist sites, which I never rushed around to see anyway, but the things that I saw and experienced in my day to day life. I speak decent Spanish, not native-level fluency by any means, but I can hold my own in a conversation on most subjects, and all of Flor's family speaks Spanish, so I interacted with Spanish-speaking Ecuadorians all day long every day, and as a result I received a different impression of Ecuador than I would have gotten from just passing through and observing. I also became completely adjusted to the food and water in Ecuador (I have to caution people who are new to Ecuador--take it easy here at first, the danger of serious dysentery is real), so I was able to enjoy as much of the unique food in Ecuador in the markets and on the street as I was able to eat. Eating with people is a great way to get to know them. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that I plan to write this blog more from a slice-of-life point of view than a "Wow! Look at that Tourist Attraction!" point of view.
I have a rule about people pictures. If a person was taking part in a public event, like a parade, or otherwise expecting to be photographed, then I don't mind posting their picture. However, if a person was not expecting to be photographed, then I won't post their picture. I break this rule in the case of people whom I photographed incidental to something else, such as the people walking along the street in front of the church above.
I have the same rule about sensitive pictures. I won't post them. It's hard to define what a sensitive picture is, but here's one example. Many Ecuadorian cemeteries are very attractive, so I took pictures of them. I was looking at one such photo the other day, thinking of posting it, when I realized I could read the names of the deceased on the lapidary headstones. The headstones were beat up, or "picturesque" as some people might say. I thought, what if the graves were of my family, would I want this picture showing the condition of their headstones disseminated all over the world? Of course I wouldn't. I asked Flor what she thought of my publishing photos of cemeteries. She said that she would feel terrible if a picture of her mother's grave turned up on somebody's blog. That made it personal. I remembered the special trip to Ecuador that Flor and I made in 2001 to put a lapidary headstone on her mother's tomb. I am going to show the same respect to everyone else that I show to Flor, and try to show sensitivity in the pictures I publish.
Finally, here are some ideas about how to interact with this blog. I am writing this page with 37 or so posts under my belt. To be honest, some of them are pretty lame. But others are decent, or even good. So keep reading the blog if you hit a lame post. There may be something you like in another post.
Most of the pictures can be expanded in size. On my browser, Firefox, you have to right click on the picture and choose "Open link in new tab" or "Open link in new window". Then you click on the picture and it will blow up.
If you like the blog, please join it, follow it, and please link to it in your own blog. If you have any questions about any of the content of the posts, please leave a comment. I will get back to you at the first opportunity.
In the future, I plan to organize and expand things, perhaps not entirely on this blog. Once Flor and I are back in Ecuador, I would like to do some photo-documentary pieces on small towns that are not very visible on the web. Most likely I will publish Picasa photo albums, and link to them through this blog. I may also shoot some videos, now that I have a camera that will do that. Flor and I would like to retire in Ecuador, so we may start other blogs with travel, retirement, and advice about living in Ecuador, once we are there again. One idea that I had in particular was to provide some good English-language documentation for the myriad of bus and trolley routes in and around Quito.
That's all for now. I hope that you enjoy the pictures.
