From the moment I entered the country, on the luggage carriers at the airport was the propaganda..” Mucho mejor si es hecho en Ecuador’ – ‘much better if it’s made in Ecuador’. And I see this stamp on almost all the food products we have in the house. I’ve been undecided on how I feel about it. Local producing is great right? The government is keen to press it as one of it’s key policies, the reasoning behind it beginning complicated, as I remember the trade laws being fought over when I was last here. Ecuador wants to go it alone and major producers such as Nestle and Coca Cola have their own factories here in order to get round trade restrictions..
And with any policy there are good points and bad points. Quality control on food is not great for products here and the result being that many products that are championed as being Ecuadorian are not as good as those exported to foreign markets. And the imported products are extortionately expensive.
Never more has this policy been so apparent as on this day.
When a girl I met rafting offered to change my opinion of Quito, to show me around and make me like the big smoke, I took the opportunity. Travelling has a way of throwing opportunities at you and when you take them you never know what you gonna get, quoting Forrest Gump there.
Arriving, having gotten very lost, I met V eventually, ready for a weekend of potluck tourist attractions. I had no idea of the line up. We met up with V’s friend who was also hilariously called V, and they both had the same surname.. I tell no lies! We zoomed off in a taxi to get lunch however we first stopped to run an errand. I couldn’t have guessed moments later I would end up in Quito largest (and quietest!) sex shop. Apparently we were here because V2 needed V1’s advice on buying a vibrator. Oh Good Lord, I thought!
I hovered about the underwear and nightwear section trying to keep my eyes of all the incriminating items around me. The one shop assistant focussing on the two V’s and the other took to popping up wherever I was and showing me (and explaining!) various items of clothing that were very small, for instance a bra that wasn’t really a bra at all and a thong that was less than a thong, if that’s actually possible. Wherever I looked she pounced. Oh heavens.. I just glanced at the sexy uniform section… here we go! I had to um and ah a lot whilst wanting to burst out laughing… it was a bite the side of my mouth moment…do I really look the type to wander around with a red PVC bodice and a feather duster and edible underpants?! Do I? Apparently so. Perhaps it’s the tan. I also do not have the incredible amount of money it would take to buy these tiny pants.
Exiting the shop after what seemed an eternal lifetime. V2 proudly showed me her new purchase. $126.00 worth! ‘How much I ask!!! I am reliably informed that these cost a fraction of this in the UK/US. ‘It’s because it’s imported’ - ‘Mucho mejor si es hecho en Ecuador’. But that’s the deal –there are no Ecuadorian producers of sex shop items. These guys have got the monopoly. It pays to think sexy in Ecuador… but I’m just thinking pure thoughts!
No comments:
Post a Comment