Q&A

In this bonus section, I am tying up some loose ends and have taken the liberty of answering questions that I imagine people would ask me about my blog if people asked me questions about my blog.


Q: Are there any "Things Ecuadorians Like" that you never published?

A: Yes, there are actually quite a few. What normally ended up happening with these is I would get the idea for a "Things Ecuadorians Like" premise, but then either not have any pictures to support it or realize that the premise itself would really be the only funny thing about the whole piece. The following topics had drafts but were never published:

Dressing for Comfort
Not Respecting Waiting Lines
Fruits that Don't Exist
Not Refrigerating Perishable Items
Diminutives
Kids Wearing Spider-Man Costumes When it's not Halloween
Making Fun of Gringos for not Knowing How to Dance, then Being Terrible Dancers Themselves


Q: You have mentioned in your blog that dancing is a an important aspect of Ecuadorian social events, but I have never seen you dance. What does that look like?


A: Like this:

"Who knows how to dance? This guy!"

Q: What ever happened with that Spanish test you took?

I took classes to prepare myself for the highest test of Spanish proficiency available, the DELE level C2. When I did practice exercises I was getting passing results on all of them except the sections on Iberian Spanish idioms. Those were obviously difficult for me because I have never lived in Spain so I've never encountered most of them before and my answers were almost always blind guesses. In spite of this glaring deficiency on my part, my instructor assured me that I would do well enough on the other sections to bring my total grade to above passing.

Unfortunately, a requirement for passing overall turned out to be a passing grade in each section as well, so in spite of the fact that I scored an 80% in total, I technically did not pass the test due to a two point deficit in the "Grammar and Vocabulary" section.

I thought I would score some bonus points with the interviewers because I made them laugh when I responded to the question, "What do firemen do?" with "Make sexy calendars."

I thought about retaking the test, but since the only area I struggled in was Iberian Spanish idioms I don't think it would be worth studying for that section when there are other, more practical language proficiency exams for my purposes (medical Spanish). So for anyone interested in taking a Spanish proficiency exam, leave this one to the Grammar Nazis who have lived in Spain for at least a couple of years or take a lower level because this test is no joke.


Q: What will you miss most about Ecuador?

A: Being the tallest person in 95% of the rooms I walk into.


Q: So "E is for Ecuador" is officially done now?

A: As its name implies, I am limiting the scope of "E is for Ecuador" to my time abroad, so it will be inactive from now on.

However, writing a blog while I was in Ecuador turned out to be a deeply satisfying and fun activity for me, so I would like to continue writing to some degree. It won't have a journal feel like "E is for Ecuador" (because there are only so many takes on "I study so much it's funny in a sad way") and I have no idea how often I will get around to writing things or what kinds of things I will write when I get around to it, but I have set up a new blog, "B is for Brooklyn" (great name, I know), just in case the urge to write ever strikes me and I want somewhere to post it.

It's got nothing on it at the moment, but absurdity breeds humor, and I am sure that between medical school and living in NYC I will have some noteworthy observations I'd like to share and document during the next few chapters in my life.