Ecuador moments

Every so often, when I least expect them, I get little vignettes that I call Ecuador Moments. They can be verbal, but for me, they are usually visual. Here are three.

We walk to school by way of a combination of streets and some dirt alleys. There is grass growing at the edge of these alleys, and traffic has to move very slowly. One day, as we were walking home, we came around a corner, and there was a cow standing in the car track of the alley, staked out at the edge eating the grass. Why let the grass go to waste, right?

Yesterday afternoon, on our way to a farmer's market in downtown Quito, we stopped at a rather nice mall to get something to drink. I was in the bathroom, with my papel higienico in my hand waiting my turn. A gentleman came in, collected his paper, took one look at me, and said "Morning". Now that I am an official diplomat, I responded in kind.

Shortly after visiting the market, we were walking back to the trolley stop, and it occurred to me that what I was hearing and seeing could have been found in any city in the world. Then, we rounded a corner, and one of the mountains that surround the city rose up and smacked me in the face. Yep, this is Quito.