First comes the soup, and then the segundo "second" or seco "dry" courses. It is a time to gather with family at home, or to meet friends or business acquaintances at a restaurant. Workers who travel far from home may take along lunch in a vertically compartmentalized lunch bucket, or buy inexpensive hot food from kiosks or street vendors. These foods include potato and meat soups or stews, choclos corn on the cob , small sausages fried with onions and potatoes, and eggs.
Other national favorites from the street to restaurants include empanadas , small meat, vegetable, or corn pies; shrimp, bivalves, fish, pork, or beef specialties; and "typical" dishes such as locro , a potato and cheese soup, and llapingachos , potato— cheese fritters. A small number of caterers specialize in home—delivered prepared meals to accommodate employed women. Abundant fresh fruits and fruit juices are extremely popular.
Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. A variety of special dishes are prepared from fresh ingredients for ceremonial occasions by the woman of the house and her female maids.
In the Sierra and parts of the Coast fanesca , a hearty soup that combines numerous beans, grains, and other vegetables cooked in fish broth, is served during Holy Week. Native people of Amazonia and the Sierra prepare chicha , a brew made from manioc and maize, respectively.
This drink is served on all ceremonial occasions, but in Amazonia it also provides daily caloric intake. For the elite, alcoholic drinks, particularly A woman harvesting corn near Cuenca. Probably 50 percent or more Ecuadorans produce their own food.
As one descends the class hierarchy, whisky is replaced by bonded rums and raw cane alcohol trago , and domestic beer. In some places, inexpensive Chilean wines supplemented or replaced chicha and domestic beer. Basic Economy. The lush Andean valleys and coastal farms produce vegetables and fruits in great variety and abundance, and there is active interregional marketing.
Stable starches are rice, bananas, plantains, and taro, grown on the coast; potatoes, corn, barley, quinoa, and wheat from the Sierra; and, in Amazonia, plantains, bananas, and particularly the root crops manioc and taro. Coffee, sugar, cacao, and coconuts from the coast are widely distributed.
Chickens are raised everywhere for meat and for eggs, which are a major source of protein. Other meats are provided by hogs, cattle, and sheep; fish and some game are important in the Oriente.
A wide variety of sausages, processed meats, and canned tuna and sardines is available in markets. The dairy industry is strong in the Sierra and the Coast, providing milk and numerous types of cheeses.
Supermarkets carry an increasingly wide variety of imported canned and dehydrated soups, as well as nationally produced canned cow's foot and tripe soups. Until recently, Ecuadorians depended entirely on domestic produce.
Probably 50 percent or more of Ecuador's people produced their own food. Such production took place on coastal and sierran haciendas, where the elite controlled the land. Peasants often indigenous eked out an existence bordering on abject poverty, often in systems of sharecropping or landed slavery. Since the petroleum boom and the land reforms of the s, more people depend on meager cash incomes to purchase food grown by fewer people. Commercial agriculture and floriculture have increased dramatically with the use of plastic greenhouses—the plastic sheeting is a product of the petrochemical industries.
Fish farming primarily trout and tilapia and shrimp farming are important sources of food and income. Land Tenure and Property. Black people of the northwest coast and indigenous people in the Amazonian region have long been excluded from any land tenureship of the property on which they have dwelled, since the mid—16th century in the former, and from time immemorial in the latter.
During the time of sierran land reforms, they were opened for colonization by poor Andean people. The resulting clashes and conflicts continue. Commercial Activities. Petroleum, bananas, shrimp and other seafood, timber and wood products, fruits, and flowers constitute Ecuador's primary legal exports.
Its major industry is petroleum processing, which takes place in Balao, just outside of the city of Esmeraldas. Most of the oil comes from the Amazonian region, where companies such as Texaco have caused one of the worst oil disasters in the world. Indigenous organizations have tried to sue Texaco in the United States, but the white— mestizo judges and lawyers of Ecuador support Texaco as a major source of national and institutional wealth.
Division of Labor. In the upper and middle classes, family connections and higher education are extremely important for significant participation in many professional and commercial ventures, as are payments to powerful political figures. Manual labor opportunities are often controlled by labor bosses who recruit among poor people and illegally take a portion of the workers' wages.
This system, known as enganche , exploits especially black and indigenous people by setting them against low— class and usually unionized mestizo workers. People have multiple means of labor mobilization including the community—based minga, in which everyone pitches in to accomplish a task. Classes and Castes. Ecuador is a highly stratified society with strong symbolic as well as socioeconomic and political ordering.
The social structure constitutes a class pyramid. The all—white oligarchies represent the pinnacle of political power, economic control, and social esteem. There is a significant middle class of professional, commercial, and service workers who generally self identify ethnically as blancos. Their representations of other people depend on many political and socioeconomic situations and contexts.
Power and control are associated with being blanco , and upward mobility often involves a process known as blanqueamiento whitening.
In vulgar discourse blanqueamiento means moving away from any mancha taint, or stain of the hybrid categories, as well as denying the sources of indio and negro. Despite quasi-racial categorization and vast differences of wealth, there is a great deal of mobility and fluidity in all social and cultural sectors.
Well over half the nation is composed of those stigmatized as black or "Indian" people and those with ancestry falling into such categories; they are excluded from access to wealth, power, or social esteem. These are the people who must be mobilized in a national election or for collective action, and to whom a caudillo must appeal, usually through the assertion of the commonality of all Ecuadorians as el pueblo. Ecuadorians whose forefathers came from other lands, especially Lebanon, have been particularly successful in such mobilization and some of them have also been quickly deposed by those mobilized.
Recent ex—presidents Bucaram Ortiz and Witt Mahuad illustrate these dual processes of caudillismo. People throughout Ecuador are thoroughly familiar with the economic machinations at the pinnacle of power and argue against aggressive self— serving capitalism and corporate privatization while at the same time looking to patrons in the government for relief from poverty and opportunities to advance socially and economically.
The symbolic structure of stratification permeates all dimensions of the republic. Even Amazonian shamans, when in trance, travel to spirit governments to gain the power to cure. In their festivals, black people in Esmeraldas may dramatize diverse relationships with distant central governments.
Ecuador is a constitutional democracy. Political life is focused on caudillos within a contemporary system of coalitions that features from seven to twenty political parties. Parties constantly coalesce and fragment, but a few, such as the Social Christians, the Leftist Democrats, and various populist parties, endure. The judicial system is based on the Napoleonic code, wherein a person is treated as guilty until proven innocent. The military is the most powerful force within the country, and the police force is substantial.
Poor people have little recourse to police help, and the idea and practice of justicia por propia mano "justice by one's own hand" is increasingly prevalent.
The military system of socioeconomic mobility stresses the doctrine of mestizaje. During social movements, including uprisings, the military takes control but more often than not serves as a forceful mediator rather than as an oppressor. National welfare programs, including a social security system with extensive health—care components, exist. It is common for a program to be established with inadequate funding. The concept of a "program without money" is a ubiquitous cultural image that reflects economic reality.
The failure of the social security system has provoked numerous protests for reform. Successful efforts for social change usually come from the poor sectors, of which the most powerful are the many indigenous organizations and the national unions representing labor, transportation, and education.
Rugs for sale at a market in Otavalo are an example of indigenous craftsmanship. Ecuadorians have created some very important nongovernmental organizations NGOs. In recent years there has been an explosion of NGOs serving the interests of numerous groups, mainly grass—roots ethnic—, gender—, and labor—based. Active NGOs number over two hundred and are largely sponsored by foreign capital.
While many NGOs are real forces in the transformation of institutional dysfunctions, it is often claimed that they contribute to corruption within institutions. Families with pictures of loved ones at a demonstration in Quito, circa The Ecuadoran people look to the government for protection, but also expect corruption.
Division of Labor by Gender. Women make up a considerable portion of the workforce and are particularly visible in banking and finance, university teaching and research, and NGOs. They play a prominent role in indigenous and Afro—Ecuadorian mobilizations and movements.
They hold high government positions in the national and regional judicial system, the national congress, and the executive branch. The Relative Status of Women and Men. Gender roles vary greatly across classes and ethnicities, ranging from equal to male—dominated. Context specificity alters gender roles and statuses so that women may control sectors of activity even when ideological maleness is said to prevail.
The ideology of machismo refers to masculine dominance and sexual conquest. It is said by people in some sectors to be complemented by marianismo , which, in reference to the Virgin Mary, designates an ideal of female purity and fidelity. How this somewhat vague ideology, which is not universal in Ecuador and varies enormously by gender, class, and ethnic perspectives, articulates to actual gender roles is not clear, and deserves serious research attention. Women have gained legal rights over their children and their own property.
A woman, even with a stable and enduring marriage, may elect to omit her husband's name from her child's birth certificate to protect that child from possible future bad fatherhood or separation or divorce, in which the father could claim the child.
Marriage varies greatly, with its expressions ranging from those characteristic of middle—class United States or Europe to a variety of systems that include "trial marriage" and "serial polygyny. Domestic Unit. The family is a key feature in the social structural and mobility systems of Ecuador.
The basic domestic unit focuses on the mother and children with the father as provider. The mother nurtures the children and manages the household; the father legally provides for the family and the home. This system operates at all class levels and across different cultural systems. Overall, strong men try to keep their nuclear and expanded families around them, while bringing in—laws in.
Where this succeeds, a kindred political—economic base develops; where it does not, people become attached to relatively more successful kin. Children are cherished, and socialization focuses on the granting of respect to parents, siblings, other relatives, the community, the nation, God, and those who lend a helping hand.
Respeto respect is the key to etiquette across all of the class and ethnic divisions and between the genders. To be granted respect is to have dignidad dignity which is a social cognate of the legal status of derechos "rights". The granting and receiving—or withholding and denying—of respect governs much of interpersonal relationships. The opposite of respect is desprecio disrespect. One counters disrespect to one's dignity by claiming "rights," and such rights come to one as an ecuatoriano , Ecuadorian.
All Ecuadorians demand respect in their interactions, and conflict on interpersonal, aggregate, or group bases occurs when disrespect is repeatedly observed or inferred. One of the fundamental features of the black social movement is found in the phrase el rescate de la dignidad national "the rescue of national dignity". Black leaders say that Ecuador will lack dignity until the ideology of mestizaje , with its built—in premise of blanqueamiento and subtext of mejorar la raza "improve the race" of indigenous and Afro—Ecuadorian people is abandoned.
Religious Beliefs. White—mestizo religiosity is predominantly Roman Catholic and varies considerably according to social class. Conservative Catholicism is infused with patriotism. Protestantism with many dimensions and sects is common and growing, though with smaller congregations. Overall, a fatalistic world view prevails wherein, ultimately, God's will is seen to dominate events.
Phrases such as "if God permits," "if God helps me," and "thanks to God," are ubiquitous. Natural disasters, which are common in Ecuador, are said to be God's punishment for collective sin. The government, though secular, is thought of as a powerful but unconcerned father who cares little for his "children" citizens , thereby provoking God's wrath. Rituals and Holy Places. A root metaphor for many Catholics is that of the Passion of Christ. His life symbolizes the value of suffering.
Virgins and saints are second to Christ's imagery in wide— spread Ecuadorian Catholicism. People make pilgrimages to the virgins and saints from great distances, primarily to become healed of physical or mental afflictions.
It is believed some saints can heal and inflict harm and that at least one, San Gonzalo, can kill. Syncretisms between Catholic Christianity and local—level beliefs and practices are ubiquitous and permeate every sector of Ecuadorian culture.
Indigenous people have a rich spiritual universe, which shamans tap for curing and for sending harm. Death and the Afterlife. Death occurs, it is said everywhere, "when one's time comes," and this is accompanied by the assertion that "no one knows when my time is to come; when my time is up I die. On or near death, saints from heaven and demons from hell come to claim the soul. Conceptions of the afterlife also vary greatly, from pious assertions that the good go to heaven and the bad go to hell, to the Afro—Ecuadorian coastal idea that most souls go to purgatory.
Souls are thought to return to earth to seek their households where the living still exist, and this is something that is not wanted. Indigenous people have many concepts of soul movement after death, and the heaven—hell dichotomy, mediated by purgatory, is usually a superficial overlay on indigenous cosmologies and cosmogonies.
In the Sierra and the Coast during the Day of the Dead—All Souls Day—which occurs at the end of October or early November, people congregate in cemeteries, socialize with souls of the deceased, and honor death itself through the imagery embodied in special bread—dough figurines and colada morada , a drink made with blue—black corn meal, blueberries, blackberries, other fruits, and spices.
Religion, shamanism, and home remedies are important resources. Traditional and alternative medicines were recognized in the constitutional reform of The use of Banisteriopsis caapi , called ayahuasca "soul vine" in Quichua, is widespread and has attracted attention from medical—care personnel, international pharmaceutical companies, and foreign tourists. Western health-care delivery exists mainly in the large cities, with outlying clinics rarely functioning in anything resembling western designs.
While there are exceptions, hospitals are places where people in dire straits go, after trying many possible cures for illness. Pharmacists do a big business in diagnosis and prescription, and almost any drug or medication can be purchased over the counter. Soccer futbol is the national passion for the majority of men in every walk of life. As one encounters poverty and ethnic marginality, one finds women playing with men.
Futbol reflects regional and economic differences. When the national team plays in international matches, a united Ecuadorian presence emerges throughout the country. When not united, Ecuadorians become divided in terms of the racial features of its national team.
Some argue that powerful sports figures seek to "lighten" the phenotype of the teams. Attempts at such blanqueamiento are vigorously protested by the most prominent black organization, ASONE. The celebrity soccer players can achieve quasi-sainthood, particularly when they die under unforeseen and tragic circumstances. Heroes of other individual sports e.
The most prominent national secular celebrations are 24 May and 10 August, the two dates of national liberation. The assumption of presidential office always takes place on the latter. Other celebrations are 12 October, Columbus Day, known as the dia de la raza "day of the race". The elite take this to mean the day of the European white , Spanish race from which they descend.
Other Ecuadorians take this day as a symbol of racial blending, of mestizaje. It is a day of infamy for indigenous and black leaders, who are excluded by its symbolism, as they are excluded in everyday life. Epiphany January is the Three Kings' Day, which is celebrated by indigenous people of the Sierra as a secular festival.
Pre—Lenten Carnival is celebrated throughout the country as a big water fight. The founding days of cities and towns are celebrated throughout the nation, while the alleged European—Andean "discovery" of the Amazon on 12 February is acknowledged primarily in the Oriente.
Support for the Arts. Two major organizations that support the arts and the humanities are the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana the House of Ecuadorian Culture , and the Banco Central del Ecuador. These organizations are funded by the federal government. Archaeological and colonial arts are considered national treasures. The Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural the National Institute of Ecuadorian Heritage is involved in the restoration of colonial edifices and some archaeological sites and in preventing national treasures from leaving the country.
Excellent newspapers, television documentaries, and ethnographic and historic video productions all feature a wide spectrum of writers, analysts, and commentators, including intellectuals in various sectors of cultural life, as well as in the academies. Literature is rich in Ecuador, and includes writings not only by those highly educated and by journalists, but also by self-taught people who have produced works of value.
Julio Jaramillo is the best known national composer. Indigenous authors write in Spanish and in Quichua. Performance Arts. There is a national symphony and national folkloristic ballet in Quito, but Ecuador is probably best known internationally for indigenous bands that combine and recombine various genres of Andean "folk" music.
Many come from Otavalo and Salasaca, but groups exist throughout the Andes and the Amazonian region. Black marimba groups from Esmeraldas are becoming internationally known.
Major universities in Quito and Guayaquil, and smaller ones in other cities, all have curricula in physical and social sciences. Private and public universities vary greatly in their emphases, but offer a respectable array of liberal arts and sciences, medical, legal, and engineering training.
Funding comes from the government, from tuition, from foreign aid, and from gifts and private donations. Many Ecuadorians, from all classes and walks of life, earn master's and doctoral degrees in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. Acosta—Solis, Misael, et al. Ecuador: In the Shadow of the Volcano, Adoum, Rosangela. Almeida, Ileana, et al. Indios: Realidad Nacional, Ayala Mora, Enrique. Nueva Historia del Ecuador, 12 volumes, — Cervone, Emma, and Fredy Rivera, eds.
Donoso Pareja, Miguel. Ecuador: Identitidad o Esquizofrenia, Espinoza Apolo, Manuel. Hurtado, Osvaldo, Nick D. The Andean highlands - the country's backbone - are composed of two volcanic ranges separated by a central valley. The capital city of Quito is nestled in the Northern end of this valley at meters above sea level, just 22 km 14 miles south of the equator. Inhabited for centuries by Andean Indians, roughly half of Ecuador's population lives amidst these rugged mountains. Especially in cities where tourism is not a booming business, like Guayaquil and other smaller towns, it can actually be hard to find people who do speak English.
Interestingly, in the rural highlands, it is not uncommon to find someone who speaks both Spanish and Quichua an indigenous variation of the ancient Inca Quechua tongue. In fact, the Sierra highland city of Cuenca has become the home of one of the foremost American expat communities, and English is widely spoken there.
Since English is used internationally as a language of business, all schools in Ecuador have it as a language requirement, and the number of bilingual primary and secondary schools and language institutes is on the rise as well. Religion in Ecuador The predominant religion is Roman Catholic, but there is a scattering of other Christian faiths. Indigenous Ecuadorians, however, have blended Catholicism and their traditional beliefs. Holiday seasons like Christmas and Easter are particularly fascinating times to visit Ecuador.
However, since Ecuador has freedom of religion, there are small populations of other Christian groups like Adventists, Mormons, and Evangelicals, and also an extremely small, but present Jewish population, along with a scattering of other religions. Customs often include musical celebrations, long processions and walks, and many other engaging displays. Novenas are a common tradition in the Latin Catholic church, in which the community will host walks or services for the nine days before a holy day in pious preparation and prayer.
Christmas: During the Advent season, in preparation for Christmas, live nativities, and Christmas pageants are a common sight. Another tradition is toasting with the eggnog liquor rompope and enjoying a ham or turkey dinner with family. Language Spanish is the main language throughout Ecuador, although most highland Indians are bilingual, with Quechua being their preferred language, while Spanish is only learned in school. When bargaining in rural markets, a Quechua word or two will not only endear you to the vendors, but usually get you an extra orange or more juice!
Several small lowland groups speak their own languages. English is understood in the best hotels and in airline offices and travel agencies, but it's of little use elsewhere. Most consider Quito to be the cultural capital as well as the political capital, and a visit to the well-appointed art museum shows why. Ecuador is also famous for its talented artisans. The city of Otavalo, north of Quito, has one of the largest indigenous markets in South America, where travelers can find beautifully woven clothes, tapestries, leatherwork, intricately carved wood, and gorgeous jewelry.
When traveling through Ecuador, especially in Quito and Cuenca, the architecture alone is enough to make you marvel. The most prominent style is the well-preserved colonial architecture. Common instruments in Ecuador include the drums, guitars, bamboo and pan flutes, and other small string instruments, like the charango, and it is always fun when you hear some of your favorite contemporary tunes, like the Sound of Silence , being played by an indigenous band.
Leisure Two of the most popular activities in Ecuador are soccer and dancing. Volleyball and tennis are other popular sports in Ecuador. It also lends itself to an exaggerated idea of what masculinity means. Progressive ideas have started to erode this centuries-old sexism, but it will be a difficult battle against these strongly ingrained values.
Likewise, racism is prevalent among many Ecuadorians with the African and indigenous populations feeling the brunt of centuries of rule by the descendants of Europeans. Once Lent has started, a somber mood of reflection and penitence can be felt throughout Ecuador in preparation for Good Friday. In Ecuador, there are an estimated 80, people who identify themselves as this ethnicity.
In part because of the dispersal of the Kichwa populace throughout Ecuador, the people have been increasingly exposed to modern cultures and the effects of globalization.
As such, the Kichwa culture has seen some erosion of their traditional culture. Higher concentrations of Kichwa can be found around La Selva, and some Kichwa believe that the recent challenges the local populations face against the oil and gas industries have rekindled their interest in Kichwa traditions and preserving their heritage. Many Kichwa have begun to form protests against oil and gas drilling in the pursuance of their long-held roles as guardians of the rainforest.
The Huaorani people traditionaly practiced a sustainable, self-sufficient economy that allowed for their isolation. Athough the Huaorani had defended themselves against alien tribes surrounding their community as well as the occasional rubber and gold prospectors, the ethnic group have developed a unique culture with a completely unrelated language and singular artistic tendencies.
Different tribes of the Huaorani encountered the imposed invasion of the modern world in different ways.
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