Murder in the Skies

Even here, in far away Guayaquil Ecuador, the War on Terror is felt. The arrest of over 20 suspected terrorists in England, reportedly planning to explode ten planes flying from England to the United States, have put a new tension here at the airport. The Air Traffic Controllers are a bit nervous, and security was increased just to be sure.

It amazes me when people can think that the murder of innocents is ever justified.

Holidays

We’re coming into the home stretch for the first iteration of classes here.

The classes we’re teaching are actually a steadily advancing series of five courses which bring the Air Traffic Controllers to an increasing level of English usage and introduces more technical vocabulary as we go. Each set is 7 ½ weeks long, although with holidays and other reasons each one generally runs for 8 weeks.

For instance, this set we had a holiday for Simon Bolivar’s Birthday and another this Thursday, August 10, which is Ecuador’s version of Labor Day. They have holidays all over the place in Ecuador, and it is hard to keep track of. For instance, there are three Independence Days. There is the Independence Day for Guayaquil (celebrated on the day before Bolivar’s Birthday), then the Independence Day for Quito, and finally the national Independence Day.

Don’t get me started on Christmas Season celebrations.

So anyway, August 24 will be the last day of classes for this iteration. The students will get 10 days off while we recover and do paperwork.

The good news is we were supposed to travel back to the States to take care of some business at the time. Now, however, it looks like we won’t be going home after all. Instead, Lisa and I are playing with the idea of taking a trip to somewhere else in Ecuador, such as the Amazon Rain Forest, or Cartegena, Venezuela, Santiago, Chile or Buenos Aires, Argentina. We’ll see.

Second Jobs and Economics in Ecuador

The students I’m now teaching here in Ecuador, the Air Traffic Controllers of Guayaquil, are a fascinating bunch. Of the 55 or so we are teaching English to, all are quite intelligent. But their economic condition is interesting.

The average wage in Ecuador is about $170 a month, depending on whose statistics you believe. There are advertisements for office workers at $200 a month, or part time store clerks at $6 a day. Most families must have several members working to make it. Dad works two or three jobs, Mom one, and usually the kids are expected to do something to bring in money. It is not unusual to see kids on the streets hawking candy, or 10-year-old boys bagging groceries at Mi Comisariato (My Commissary).

The Air Traffic Controllers go through a rigorous education and training process, with only a small chance to be chosen. If they are chosen they have to go through another rigorous certification process to be hired. If they are fortunate enough to be hired their wage starts at $600 a month and over the years increases to about $800 to $1,000. So they are quite well paid by Ecuadorian standards. People don’t quit their jobs. They stay on for years, decades. The boss of the local station, Bruno, has been an Air Traffic Controller for over forty years. The last time they hired a new Air Traffic Controller was four years ago. That is zero turnover on a staff of almost 75 controllers over four years. Amazing numbers by Western standards.

And almost all have second jobs. But the second jobs are, well, not what a Westerner would consider a “Second” job.

One is a working veterinarian – with a busy practice treating large animals on the farms and haciendas at the edges of Guayaquil. Several are lawyers. Others own businesses. Several are teachers and professors. One teaches math in the morning at a primary school here in Guayaquil and works at night as an ATC.

And even though their pay is exceptional by Ecuadorian standards they are constantly complaining about the low pay.

I guess nothing ever changes, no matter where in the world you travel to, be it California or Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Three day weekend!

One of the great things about my job here in Guayaquil, Ecuador, is the schedule. We teach our government students for long hours on Monday through Thursday. Friday Morning is paperwork time, so we make out attendance and student reports to send to Quito. Then we're free!

This morning I got up early, went to the gym. Then I came home, had a cup of coffee and spent some hammock time. It's a lovely feeling, laying in a hammock in Guayaquil, Ecuador, looking up at our three impressive mango trees, which are full of green little fruits giving promise of massive mango parties in the future, realizing there's not a lot to do.

I just head inside, spend 15 minutes finishing up my paperwork, then wait for Lisa and Chris to finish their stuff up. At 10 am I head to the Internet Cafe and email everything off. The ladies head off to go shopping, and crafting, and whatever else they do, so I´m free to surf the web and do some blogging.

And I'm paid to do this.

Gotta love it.

Ecuador is a happening place right now

I’m beginning to realize how active Ecuador is right now:

The final run up for the national and presidential elections is at hand with candidates from a score of parties all calling each other liars and thieves. Their supporters are busy painting walls and marching in the streets.

The volcano near Baños is belching out ash and lava at irregular intervals.

The federal government in Quito is wrestling with what to do with Bloque 15. This is the oil field Ecuador seized from Occidental Oil. The government is walking a tight-rope, they want to appear strong for Ecuadorian special interest groups in an election year, and they want the money the oil field generates. But they’ve found that the national oil company, Petroecuador, does not have the technicians, engineers and geologists needed to properly run the field, since Occidental took all of the old executives and engineers home. So now oil production is slipping. They also don’t want to appear too nationalistic because that will scare off foreign investment afraid of their businesses getting seized.

But the government can do only so much as make promises, because there is no way the current President, Palacio, is going to retain his job. So the next administration is as likely to reverse everything he does as a matter of policy.

The next three months in Ecuador should be fun.

As the ancient Chinese curse says: “May you live in interesting times.”