Fear and frying in Ecuador

This is my first report back from Ecuador, where I will be spending nine months trying to better understand the realities on the ground of countries that do well in the Happy Planet Index. Are people here as happy as they say they are in surveys and, if so, what can we learn in the West about achieving good lives that don’t cost the Earth?

I have to admit, this first report doesn’t provide immediate answers.

The last leg of our journey to Ecuador (via Brussels, Frankfurt, and the Dominican Republic) was the flight from Panama to Quito, where we met Constanza, an Ecuadorian woman married to a Colombian man living in Panama.  Like many of the conversations we have had so far, one of the central topics was crime and the fear of it. In trying to assure us that Ecuador was an excellent choice, she probably deterred my wife from ever wanting to set foot in Colombia! Medellin is peligroso (dangerous), the northern coast is peligroso, the countryside is peligroso.  Colombia, according to the stats, is one of the happiest and longest living countries in the world. But, according to her, it would be best not to even visit. Not that Ecuador was a paradise of peace in her mind either. Like everyone else, she told us not to travel by bus or walking after 8pm, to always watch your bags, and generally, to live in fear.  And yet, on the other hand, she loved it – loved living in Ecuador. 

The same pattern from a couple of European volunteers we met, Hélène from France and Salomé from Switzerland – both of whom described how much they loved living in Quito, the mountainous capital, and how we shouldn’t worry about crime. But then, they calmly told us that the difference between here and Europe is that, in European capitals you might get attacked and have your wallet taken, in Quito you’d be stabbed if you refused to hand over.  They even suggested making sure you carry at least $10 on you at all times, because if you don´t have anything, they’ll stab you out of frustration.

All these stories are of course stories, and, as a good statistician, I´m not going to be so easily swayed by them.  You’ll hear the same tales about Brixton or Hackney, but the reality is never as bad as that.  And of course most people in the UK live under the assumption that crime is constantly rising, when the reverse is true. But, regardless of the reality (and I’m not denying there is some reality), the interesting thing for me is the subjective experience. How can people be happy when they genuinely believe that they can’t go out at night and that every bus is full of bag-slashers?

Constanza threw up another riddle for us. Colombia in her view is disgustingly materialisitc.  The cult of beauty is everywhere – indeed the country has the highest rate of plastic surgery in the world. Where does the happiness come from, therefore, when we know how much materialism mitigates well-being?

Two days into our stay in Quito, and there are also health-related riddles. In poorer countries with high life expectancy, such as Philippines or Indonesia, it is often the diet that comes to people’s rescue.  And yet the specialities of the area we are in include fritada (fried chunks of pork), and salchipapa (sausage and fried potato), and every dish is served with a side portion of popcorn.  When we tell people we try not to eat much meat, they mostly look at us with pity. And yet average life expectancy is one of the highest in the Americas.

So fear and frying in Quito, but also packed public transport that chugs out smog as it edges up steep mountains, cold nights, and unpredictable weather. Over the border in Colombia, one can add extreme materialism, the cult of beauty and more fear. I have to say that our first experiences have left us with many questions.  I’m hoping that, in good journalistic style, these will be resolved and my future blogs will be more positive.