Preconceived Notions Part 1

You can't really read this, but it's "Cuenca" with a heart around it at a soccer game.

Preconceived notions can be good and can be bad. 

Because some correct ones prepare you for things, they can help you get through the days when Ecuador just seems so off-the-wall that you want to hop on a plane. Because the discovery that some are incorrect is accompanied by relief so acute that it makes everything seem all right, they can help you get through the days when everything seems to be against you.

There are some things I was expecting when I came here. I was expecting Ecuadorians to eat guinea pig frequently. I was expecting traffic to be flipped like it is in Britain (don't ask me why; I've no idea). I was positive that hot showers would be readily available. I was sure that my room would be quiet at night. I was planning on faithfully attending a church not unlike my own.

I was wrong on all counts. But being wrong doesn't always mean being disappointed.

Take, for example, the guinea pig thing. I found out it's only for weddings and other special occasions. Whew. Here I was afraid I'd have to eat furry rodents all the time and I only have to do it once. That's not so bad. I will never understand, though, just what's so great about paying $25 at the very least to have a whole guinea pig to yourself.

Also consider traffic. Sure, it's horrendous. But it isn't flipped. Imagine my relief when I saw that steering wheels were on the same side of the car as in the US. There's a ton of one-way streets, though, which I'm sure are awful for drivers (and also for you, the first time you get in a taxi and don't have the faintest idea where you are). And seat belts exist, but the other side of the buckle just isn't there (you know, the one part that makes a seat belt a seat belt?).

But, then again, it's the oddities that make this place so great.