Cultural Differences: Part II

Another incident where the Gringo-Ecuadorian cultural rift was exposed happened while I was on a tour of Guayaquil with a bunch of Gringos and a tour guide from the university. It's ironic, that after four months in the country and countless trips to Guayaquil I finally get invited to a "welcome to Ecuador tour". I never even had the tiniest amount of orientation and these new Gringos were getting a freakin guided tour, I just happened to be nearby when they were loading up the bus and got invited along. Granted, I had never really needed much in the way of orientation and these Gringos will only be here for a month but it would have been a nice gesture. My motivation for going on a tour of a city I already know was probably made up of equal parts Resentment and Boredom. Not that the trip helped with either of these.

My displeasure aside, the trip turned out to be just what I thought it would be- boring. We did, however, pass by a small barrio hospital station where one of the Gringas would be volunteering her time. Small as a trailer and half as sturdy, this structure was not the kind of place you want your family to get medical treatment in. It was run-down, disorganized, and dirty with a poorly trained staff. But, I suppose, that is better than nothing. The tour guide introduced the Gringa that would be working there to the director and added that she had been there the year before. He studied her a bit before he realized that he did in fact remember her. Seeing this, the tour guide explains "she has changed a bit over the year, she has gotten much fatter". The director nods in acceptance of the explanation but of course the entire room full of Gringos explodes into laughter as the poor girl turns beet red. Realizing his mistake yet not understanding the magnitude of it the tour guide tries to pass it off explaining to the girl "you're fatter, but it sounds much better in Spanish, really..." This did not ease the situation in the slightest. I tried not to laugh but it was so funny.

Moral of the story- calling someone fat in Ecuador, or all of South America for that matter, is not an insult. If you are the slightest bit overweight or even just thick expect to get called la gorda from time to time. Heck, even I've been called fat and I've lost weight!