Street Map

I would like someone to make a map

Mark my home and draw some lines that match

Things that have been offered on the street to me:

A-air fresheners, they are every where in Ecuador… in the bath rooms, the kitchen, the cars, on the street (yeah I don’t know that point of that either!) and apparently they are just a necessity in Ecuador

B- Bon Ice, this is a very Ecuadorian snack, in the US we call them icy freezes, but here guys walk around in complete, what look like, Bon Ice running suits. They then sell then out of a cylindrical cooler from $.10 or $.15 each!

C- Cuy, the local delicacy of whole guinea pigs skewered on a stick then rotated around a fire till golden brown. All you have to do then is take a big cleaver and chop it into 4 pieces and bam… lunch.

D-dulce- otherwise known as candy. They are huge on it here, many people walk around with trays of a wide assortment of candy from molasses candy to chewing gum. My personal favorite is the taffy that you can watch being pulled right there and then buy.

E-Ecuadorian hair wraps, ok so I didn’t really know what these were called so I am calling them Ecuadorian hair wraps. Many native women wrap their hair in what looks like a very colorful weaved belt. I am quite a fan of them, but as a white girl with very short hair have no use for one. L

F- funky English, everybody here has watched at least one movie in English (most of the time with Spanish sub-titles), and they have picked up pretty funny words from it. When these people hear I am from the US they get very excited and throw out phrases like “sexy bitch” and “California girl” and “New York!!!!” It sorta makes me smile a lot.

G- giant stuffed animals, often we will have guys will carts come to our door and try to sell us carnival sized stuffed bears or dogs. They often end up trading jewelry for these prizes.

H- hookah- ok so this isn’t super common, but the first week I was here I met a guy who has as shop that sells beer, hookah, and meat warps. He also spoke English so was very eager to be my friend. Now every time I see him I get offered hookah. Great. Even in the middle of a run… like I am going to stop and smoke a hookah… that will make my run great.

I- Ice cream, they are big on ice cream here. Every store sells ice cream, while I wouldn’t call it the best ice cream ever, it is still ice cream!

J- Juice… of all kinds and forms. I think I have been offered tamarind, orange, and coconut just to name a few. They are quite good.

K- key chains of Mary (with your name engraved!), my host mom got me one of these. For those of you who have seen my key chain you can guess that I am pumped to add another to its plethora.

L- Live birds, while waiting in line at the bookstore a man came by with a cage filled with about 30 live birds squawking and chirping. Dinner anyone? Just kidding… I think they were pets.

M-maize (corn), you can it get popped, on the cob, baked, pureed, with milk, and in any form you can possibly imagine.

N- nothing you would ever want… and everything you need.

O- odd books, mostly children’s books.

P-ponchos, they are huge into ponchos here…. With print, out of wool, large, small, you name it they have it.

Q-quick Snacks, they are all about little snacks on the street. And they always come in little yellow bags. You can get the Ecuadorian style G.O.R.P, fruit, French fries, salads… the list goes on.

R-recordings, always pirated. But often quite good.

S-scrunches, be transported to the good old 90’s because everybody wears scrunches here. Want a hair band… to bad. Hehe.

T-taffy, people will have these spikes coming out of their stand where they will stand and pull taffy. Then if you walk by they will hand you a small piece so you want more. It works, let me tell you. J

U-underwear, yep… just sorta chilling on the street. My favorite said 100% loca on the butt. Almost got it, but thought my host family might just think I was a little too strange.

V-various hats, well with my obsession of hats… I am right at home here. You can buy winter hats for little ones like a smurf, or pooh bear… or a dog. You can buy knitted hats with any shape, size, and number of things sprouting out of them.

W-water, drinking water is sold on the street everywhere… at first I refused to drink the water from the tap, but I have given up on that. I mean I am here for a year, that’s a lot of bottled water to buy.

X-x=ab-y/2… by this I mean schoolbooks. People will just walk up to you and try to sell you a book about algebra, or handwriting, or my favorite… English.

Y-Yo Go, the mentioned above Bon Ice salesmen also sell a similar product, but the base in yogurt. Pretty good if you ask me.

Z-zapatos… of every shape and size. (except size 42… my size. We have to go to 3 cities for that)