Things Ecuadorians Like: Being Old and Doing Things

You don't need to spend a lot of time in Ecuador to realize that the old people here are a lot different than the old people in the United States, and I'm not just talking about felt hats and ponchos. The truth is that in their old age, something happens to Ecuadorians that turn them into some of the most resilient people I have ever witnessed.

This contrast was brought to my attention recently when I read an article about a program in some American city that links joggers up with elderly people so that active young men and women can go shopping and deliver food to less able-bodied old people while they are running on their routes. If you tried to help an old Ecuadorian walking down the street carry something, she would probably call you a penis-face and slap you away.

"Take your stinking paws off me you damn, dirty American."

Go to the center any day of the week and you will see men and women older than electricity carrying huge crates and bags filled with produce on their backs. I will occasionally see someone with a full load booking it down the street at maximum senior citizen velocity that makes me wonder if I would be able to do what they are doing now, let alone in my seventh decade.

So what is it that makes old Ecuadorians so much more capable of doing things than their first-world counterparts? I think it is due in large part to the fact that in Ecuador, old people don't get any special treatment. Nowhere is this more evident than on the public buses.

I have already talked about the chaos that is the public transportation system in Ecuador at length, and nothing about that experience is different for old people. If an elderly person is getting on the bus, the driver will start to pull away as soon as both feet are in the vehicle. This sends old people bouncing back and forth in the aisle, fumbling with whatever bags or buckets they are holding until they finally rebound into a spot where they can sit down or lean against a wall.

Old people are impressive to watch getting on the bus, but they are even more tenacious when it is time to get off. Forget appealing to their fellow passengers to clear out a path for them to exit on account of their advanced age; old Ecuadorians just elbow and claw their way through the mass of passengers and scream at the bus driver to stop the bus so they can get off (which is occasionally followed by a chain of mumbled expletives as they are walking down the stairs). This would be a good time to additionally note the unusual physical strength of old Ecuadorians. I speak from experience, as my ass has been the target of many a wrinkled elbow strike launched by an exiting grandma.

On the plane back to Ecuador from my last trip to the U.S., I started talking to the old Latina woman sitting next to me because the stewardess wanted to tell her something but didn't speak Spanish. It turned out that she was from Quito and we had a long talk that involved a lot of me not understanding what she was saying and smiling and nodding in response. I saw that she had an American passport and wondered whether she was really from Ecuador or if she was only going to visit her family (after all, it is incredibly difficult for an Ecuadorian to get American papers). She proved to me that she was a true Ecuadorian when she had to use the bathroom, and instead of asking me to get up so she could get into the aisle, she just climbed over me without saying a word.

My host father is the model of an old person who does things. He is a retired civil engineer, but after he retired he bought a farm and now he goes there every day to take care of his plants and animals with the goal of expanding his land and increasing his production every year. One time a family member was over and my host father gave him a great speech which went something like this: "When most people retire, they sit in front of the T.V. and stay there for another five years until they die. One has to keep active and continue to challenge himself to have something to live for and keep going."

When I grow up I want to be a doctor, but when I get old I want to be an Ecuadorian.