a_gyno_guy
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I went to Ecuador in 1987 for a week to give a series of lectures. I was in Quyaquil which is the biggest port city. Quito is the capital in the mountains. I was guest of a local doctor there, and I will say that the place has a a modest well to do upper class who live in houses that appear modest on the outside and are frequntly oppulent on the inside. There is also a small sized middle class, and a huge lower class. Of course this is not uncommon in South American cities. The rich ruling class advised me to put some money in their banks which were giving as much as 25% interest on savings accounts. I later heard that there was some finacial problems that did not suprise me. So I was glad I stayed with my money in American banks so far. This port city had a moderate climate, but I hear it is more harsh in the mountain Capital City. My hosts were very charming, and extreamely hospitable to me and my wife. However, we were told serious stories of kidnappings and shootings of this population by the revolutionary front. We were driven everywhere by chauffeurs who we found out about midway into the week that they were also "packing" handguns since they were also bodyguards. The richest man in Ecuador had us over one night. He lived in a very protected building which was exquisite inside. He had Israeli trained body guards, bullet proof elevators, and the conversation was mostly about his uncle who was kidnapped and killed a year or so before we had gotten there. A several months before we arrived the doctor's college aged daughter needed to get a chemistry course at the City college as her private college did not have that course readily available. The girl is driven into the college campus downtown. Then she races from the vehicle to go to class. Just as she dissappears around the corner of the building, several cars pull up and surround the Jeep and the driver that took her there. They shot the driver 9 times when he would not reveal her location. He lived. It may have quieted down in the almost 20 years since I was there, but I would make serious inquires particularly into the CIA Fact Book that is published about such areas and their threat potential to Americans. |
sueet2b
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im from equador, in fact from quito specifically, but my parents moved to the states when i was about 4, so i never really got a kick off living in equador. after reading what the person above me wrote, my mouth dropped!..wow..that is scary....but you know what it is true, because from recalling all the stories my uncles and autns and parents have told now make much more sense. like i said i never grew up there, but i couldnt picture it that vividly as the guy above described it.
about 5 to 6 years ago one of my dad's cousin's family moved out immedialty from equador to live in california with my family. they were (actually still are) the owners of this huge fast food chain there in equador, i dont really know how the story went but from what my parents told me, the father (my dad's cousin) was kidnapped and almost killed for randsome, in some way, in some strategy the police were actually able to find him and capture the kidnappers. it was a big thing, and i dont know how long the kidnapping went on, but supposedly as soon as they were able to save the father, they immedialtly fled equador to live in los angeles. i remember it was a big thing, i only visited them once, and the issue about money, i remember they had no problem. they had this 17 year old son whom they bought a brand new jaguar as soon as they arrived, while buying at the same time an entire apartmente building in santa barabara...yea i know talk about easy life style after such a big change. about a year or so after that, i remember it was taking toolong for them to get the visa and they flew back, i dont know what is still up with them but i do remember that happening a couple years ago.
same thing about one of my aunt's father had been murdered when she was child, for what reason? simple robbery. they werent wealthy people, but i guess they had enough for a burglar to have the heart of killing just to get a couple of bucks out of the man. and from what my aunt had told me long time ago, she told me it was a planned murder as well.
about high society and low middle class, thats true. the educated are usuall the high society and many of them have to have private guards to stay up all night and guard the house. one time when i was visiting, i stayed up at one of my uncle's house. it was getting late and the door knocked. my uncle went to the door and handed a man this gun wrapped in a somewhat hankerchief. i was confused and asked who was the man? and he told me to not worry, that he was the nightly body guard that guarded the home even carring a gun all night. the house was huge, but it was all brick walls, dogs everywhere...you would hav enever guessed that someone would really try that hard to break into the house!
last story. when i was about 7 or 8, i was there with my sister visiting relatives and we were staying at an aunt's house (i have 8 aunts/uncles from my mom's side and 6 from my dad's..a lot..eh?). in the middle of the night as we were sleeping, my uncle comes in to the room and wakes us up. he immediatly grabed us and took us together to their room with my cousins. i didnt understand what was going, and you know, who is going to tell an 8 year old what is happening at that instant. from what i found out later, supposedly my uncle had woken up by the bark of the dogs, the had been barking like crazy at the roof of the house and there were some noises coming from the roof as well. it was getting obvious that someone was trying to break in. my uncle who was good friends with the neighbor, immediatly called and asked if he could please shoot and fire to the sky. i remmeber hearing the shootings, it was actually a scary moment. after some time, the barking went away and it went back to silence. i personally think there was in fact someone really trying to break in and the noise of the firing gave the intruder the message like, 'we know you are up there'.
i guess thats just the way things go in equador when it comes to burglary, kidnapping, murder, ecc...
scary thought, but true. |
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