Fun Facts about Ecuador #3:

9. Greetings! Whenever anyone sees a friend, or walks up to a group of people, they say hello by exchanging a kiss - a friendly kiss to the side. It mostly happens when guys greet girls, but girls do greet girls in this way too. I really like this custom. In the US, no one is going to shake the hand of everyone in a group, or hug everyone hello. The Ecuadorian way causes guys to personally acknowledge everyone in the group. The kiss is used to say good-bye, as well. Also, when saying good-bye here, everyone says "ciao."

10. Forest fires spring up everywhere, especially in the summer and the beginning of the fall. Quito is having a lot of trouble with this right now- we'll drive through the city and see random fires on the mountainsides, and sometimes I'll wake up to the smell of smoke and look out the window to see the mountainside clouded. It's a little bit scary because the fire-fighters have a hard time putting it out (the issue has been in the newspapers a lot) but it's also only been getting trees and brush so I guess it's rejuvenating the earth in the long run…

11. You know those annoying Sacagawea dollar coins the T machines sometimes give you back if try to get change? Those same coins that I tried to use to buy lunch in high school, but the lunch lady told me that it "wasn't American money"? The coins that nobody uses, and therefore seem to have gone out of commission? Well, mystery solved, ladies and gentlemen! Ecuador has taken all of our Sacagawea coins and uses them all the time; they are more popular than the bills!

12.I got a mani/pedi the other day for only 7 dollars! SEVEN DOLLARS!