1) Some towns have garbage turcks that play ‘Ice Cream Truck Music’
When we were in Banos, we thought there was Ice Cream Trucks in town! But it turns out its just the garbage truck. A way for the town folks to know to bring their garbage out!
2) Altitude sickness is real! Quito is high!
A few of us got altitude sickness. You get stomach aches and dizziness and you feel week and tired! Less oxygen definitely makes a difference in daily living! We are up 2,850 meters of altitude!
3) People who use the bus follows the honor system
Usually you just hop on the bus, and then the bus attendant would come around and collect the fares. I don’t know how they do it, knowing who has been on the bus and who hasn’t already! But it is really cool to see how they can collect the fares by walking around.
4) Some Places has no Toilet Seat
This is a serious mystery to me. I’ve seen squatting toilets, where it’s a hole in the ground. Those makes sense, you can just squat. But a toilet where theres no seat, and you have to squat in a 90 degree angle?! Your thighs just burn! And I couldn’t imagine someone squatting on the edge of the thin toilet seat! Also, toilet paper is usually dispensed outside near the sink, so grab your bit before you go in!
5) Hamburguesas usually has fries in it
They would have fries inside their burgers! Its actually quite tasty. Also, you would find them on the side as a side dish. I guess they like their ‘papa fritas!’
6) You can get coffee on the street through coffee vendors at red light
There are a lot of street vendors. They sell snacks, drinks, toys, and even coffee! I’ve even seen them sell Ice cream cones! I don’t know how they keep them from melting.
7) You usually don’t take your shoes off at home.
Word on the streets from the locals is they usually don’t take off their shoes in their homes. I think it depends on the family, but I heard in most cases, they don’t!
8) People sell snacks on buses.
This is so common! You always have people hop on the bus, scream a bunch of things in Spanish (too bad I don’t understand) promoting their item, and come around selling you snacks and toys! Sometimes they hand it to the person, then come back around and take it back if they don’t want to buy it. Very interesting..
9) Popcorn goes in soup.
When I ordered soup, it came with a side of popcorn. I had no idea what to do with it. I thought it was an appetizer, so I asked the waiter how to eat this. He’s like, put it in your soup! To my surprise, its awesome! A little bit of the crispiness of the popcorn mixed into the soup makes for a fun effect!
10) They use dollar coins a lot!
Not only do they use USD American currency, they use dollar coins and 50 cent coins! They rarely use a dollar bill! Its nice to have the same currency to work with 🙂
11) Some restaurants give you plastic gloves to eat your chicken with!
I went to eat at ‘Texas Chicken’ and they gave me little transparent plastic gloves! How fun! Although it was a bit annoying to keep taking it off to drink my soup and eat my rice, but at least my fingers are clean!
