I still don't fully understand the constant car alarms. I know others have discussed this but it still confuses me. I have seen families sitting in their cars and chatting/looking at their phones ...while the car alarms roar.
Or when they open a window, trunk,door the alarm sounds for about 40 seconds..?
Or everyday I see people press their alarms on their key chains when they are maybe 100m away walking towards their cars...and they just act like this alarm isn't blaring loudly.
Then there are the alarms that just start suddenly for no reason. Do they have them set on a timer to go off every hour or something?
I think that maybe they are associating car alarms as a sign of modern technology and this makes it acceptable and impressive to them and others. Are they simply proud of their car and want others to see them in their cars ?
I have also read that they just don't know how to install an alarm properly , but I don't think I believe that would make the population as a whole accept around the clock car alarms roaring.
I have only heard my car alarm once because it was being broken into back home.
I know the country is undeveloped but there are some things that offer such a stark contrast to how great, nice and helpful the Ecuadorians are. Like never stopping their cars to let people pass( they copied N.America's black/white crosswalks but nobody showed them how to use them. Not even the police let pedestrians pass at crosswalks! Do they think that the crosswalk paint is just a pretty decoration?), to honking their horns always (Ive read the avg driver presses their horn 10,000 X year?! While Ive never pressed my horn even once back home...) Or letting their dogs bark all day without being concerned how their neighbours feel. Or cutting in lines.
My point is that how can such a nice group of people be so oblivious to common courtesy and is this just chalked up to the development of the country being lower? These lack of concerns are generally associated with very high populations where the common courtesies are just thrown out the window. But I'm in Cuenca and the pop is definitely very low here. So, there is another reason(s) which means that there is also a chance that it may never resolve itself especially as the pop. increases and seeing that there doesn't appear to b a will to change this.
I try not to get upset because I know that this is more about the level of progress/development/advancement here but I admit that it does get on one's nerves at times.
Anyways , if anyone has spoken to an Ecuadorian about this and got an answer maybe u could let us know.
Alarms
I just returned from 10 weeks in Cuenca and I know what you mean. I was in a restaurant one morning and a car alarm went off as I was arriving, blared all the time I was eating and did not stop until I was about a block away. I just kept my sense of humor and remembered that I was not at home.
I could definitely , and did, keep a sense of humour about it for 10 weeks but as I'm gonna stay here for well over one year....it tests my resolve.
I have been to around 16 countries and have never seen something like this.
I have even seen cars driving and the alarm goes off and they don't mind at all!
I have decided that Ecuadorians have somehow decided that car alarms are an unavoidable part of the "new" and advanced world and have learned to accept it with pride.
I hear about 1car alarm sound in a month ...maybe 2 , back in Vancouver or California. But here I hear a car alarm every 5 minutes .
I truly believe that the govt should implement some courtesy by-laws that would restrict the overuse of car alarms , pedestrian/traffic laws and barking dogs. This would help keep social development in pace with economic development and would be beneficial to the avg. ecuadorian in general.
Anyways, that's my 2 cents.
I really do not understand how you could have been to so many countries and then decide to come to Cuenca and want the government to change the laws for your comfort. If you do not like the noise of the alarms, you might try Alausi. I spent time there and only heard one alarm. That is
my nickels worth.
Yes , it would b for my comfort ,but I'll only be here over a year. But imagine this country developing more and more each day. And 10 years from now the common courtesies are not applied. Cars still are not stopping for pedestrians, alarms are still blasting on every street and dogs are barking at every passer-by.
My point was that the people are extremely nice and helpful here so it seems obvious that they are doing their country a disservice by following 3rd world courtesies when many aspects of it has developed so rapidly. And there doesn't seem to be a will to change this.
In the end common courtesies like these r not cultural. They are universal. To pretend like they are not universal is ignorant .
I am 66 years old and I have not felt so alive in many years as when I was in Ecuador. I took the speeding traffic, the car alarms, the pollution from the buses and many cars and embraced the whole concept. I spent my 10 weeks in an apartment right on Calle Larga just 4 blocks from the big mercado and loved every minute of it. I would recomend Ecuador be tried but I also realize that it is not for everybody. I hope you can enjoy your year in Cuenca and I may see you when I return in February.
Articles to help you in your expat project in Cuenca
You have made it to Ecuador, now what is there to do in your free time? A lifetime in Ecuador isn't enough time to ...
Las Cajas parque nacional is located about a half hours drive (or hour bus ride) to the west of Cuenca, along the ...
Ecuador is famous as a retirement haven. But you might not want to wait until retirement age to move there and ...
What kind of food will you find in restaurants, cafes, and private homes in Ecuador? Many restaurants in Ecuador ...
Family is everything to an Ecuadorian. The extended family unit is the most important aspect of life in Ecuador ...
Ecuador, as a fast-developing nation, has laws that are constantly evolving, but one thing is certain: the ongoing ...
