I’m really curious to hear everyone’s experience and thoughts about this.
I am considering moving to my family’s home country, Ecuador. I’ve been there every summer and I’m very comfortable and familiar with it. I’ve been there with family and i’ve traveled by myself and I have tons of family there. Also lived in Mexico for many years as a digital nomad.
But I wanted to hear about your experience living in your family’s country of origin and how did it feel? Also might move with my family, too.
Also asking for input about living in Ecuador as an Ecuadorian-American.
Thanks.
Full disclosure: I’m stereotypical gringo from the USA, but I haven’t lived in the USA for roughly 10 years. I met my Ecuadorian wife in Kenya a few years back. We did long distance for while, now we’re married, and we moved to Ecuador a bit ago. She lived in the USA for about four years so I can only report on her experience. Since moving back, she has a lot less tolerance for inefficiency. She gets frustrated with having to do anything with the government. She also adopted a US American approach to time. She always wants to show up “on time” and I’m the one who has to hold us back so we’re not there two hours before everyone else. She loves her country (as do I!), but she definitely plays the comparison game and gets frustrated.
I also have a buddy who was born here in Ecuador. Moved to the US when he was 15. He visited throughout his time in the US, but only recently returned full-time. He’s loving it. He “fits in” but he says he gets a lot of questions about where he’s from as he uses his Spanish a little differently than someone who grew up here their whole life.
The inefficiency I can’t tolerate, either. I’m waiting on line since 5 am for a driver’s license, but I can’t do it. Lol.
Yeah, I get that. I feel that if all of us came back, we could whip Ecuador or Latin America into shape. But it’s too corrupted and too comfortable for the elites to change this way of doing things.