How Is This Possible?

cccmedia wrote:

How is it possible that this obscure place in Ecuador has 88 FM radio stations?  How do they even fit that many stations on the dial?

Must be very short range, very local stations!

Damon.

Ecuador -- official name República del Ecuador, or Republic of the Equator -- is the only country in the world named after a geographic feature.

Source... encyclopedia.com

Decades before the U.S. Civil War, the west African country Liberia was formed and named -- Liberia meaning land of freedom.  The country was being settled by thousands of free blacks and former slaves from the United States, encouraged by "colonization" societies in the U.S.

The capital city -- Monrovia, Liberia -- is named after James Monroe, who was the U.S. president from 1817 to 1825.  He was a member of the American Colonization Society, an advocate for populating Africa with American freed slaves.  (Wikipedia)

I just priced a one-way flight, Quito to Medellín -- UIO-MDE -- and the base price is $138.

Impuestos, cargos y tasas -- not including over-the-limits baggage fees -- are an additional $249.

How is this possible?

cccmedia


pricing for October 2021 performed at despegar.com

A few years ago I got a haircut in the commercial La Marín district of Quito for three dollars.

Today, walking through that area, I saw two shops advertising 'Cortes de Cabello $1.25'.

A buck and a quarter for a haircut?

How is that possible?

cccmedia in Quito

I also went to Banco Guayaquil today.  I've been attempting without success to access my savings account online for some time.

Last week I confirmed my online 'usuario' or account ID .. and my 'clave' (KLAH-bay) or password.

I input those items, yet the system still was not giving me access.  It send a code to my cell phone but inputting the code did not work either.

So today at my branch, a bank officer told me I needed to have a smart phone in order to access my account online.  My flip phone would not do.

But wait.  This is Ecuador, not the USA where upwards of 85 percent of the public have smart phones.

How is this situation possible?

cccmedia in Quito

Answer: Venezuelans unfair competition.  Construction workers (mostly Indigenas), make about $135 per week. Venezuelas work for $50 per week.  Indigenas are becoming unemployed in large numbers. Everyone hates these undocumented "Monsanto/Bayer"  allegedly refugees that have invaded Ecuador. 

Saludos,
Rod

Bimbo brand bread is sold in Ecuadorian stores.

The parent company is Grupo Bimbo (bimbo group), a Mexico-based operation that calls itself the largest baking company in the world and distributes to 32 other countries as well.  The company slogan is Nourishing a Better World.

How is this brand possible?

cccmedia

The return on Ecuadorian national bonds was 28 percent during the past year, according to a Bloomberg Barclays index.  That's a bigger return than was seen by equivalent bonds of any other country.

The phenomenon is attributed to a steady vaxxing program, a rise in the price of oil and the election of Guillermo Lasso.  Presidente Lasso's victory was widely seen as a harbinger or market-friendly reforms.

Source... Bloomberg, as e-published at www.cuencahighlife.com

This news item may be of special interest to Expats seeking to acquire an asset that qualifies one for an investment visa.

cccmedia

ANT, Ecuador's motor vehicles agency, says it has found that 35,000 drivers licenses are fakes.

According to this accounting, 24,000 non-professional DL's and 11,000 professional ones have been produced fraudulently.  Five thousand licenses in Azuay Province alone (includes Cuenca) are phonies.

The head of ANT, Adrián Castro, finds it disturbing that some of the drivers of buses and heavy transport vehicles have not been tested properly.

ANT says it is working with Ecuadorian police and the attorney general's office to locate and prosecute motorists who have been driving on ersatz licenses.

source... www.cuencahighlife.com

According to an article in Discover Magazine, it's believed that over 85 percent of the world's animal and insect species are yet to be discovered and categorized.

Among the recent discoveries are the world's tiniest lizard, a new type of octopus and an ant here in South America (Ecuadorian coast) that is named for a rock musician.

discovermagazine.com

That is mind blowing! 85% wow Hey CC what is the name of the ant rocker?

The rocker's involvement in the ant naming turns out to be more complicated than earlier indicated.

For the details, Google how a Yale scientist and a rock star named an ant for a warhol superstar.

The article appeared in the magazine Yale News.  The musician involved is the former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe.

How Latin Americans view the U.S.A.

Bimbo brand bread is sold in Ecuadorian stores.

I just priced a one-way flight, Quito to Medellín -- UIO-MDE -

Bimbo claims to be the world's largest bread maker.  I've seen it in every Latin country I've visited or lived in.

https://www.bimbousa.com/

I still think the name is sorta funny, since it has connotations in English that it doesn't have in Spanish...

- @OsageArcher