 Manners
In Ecuador, as well as everywhere else in South America (with a few differences of style in some countries) we greet each other accordingly to gender. Male to male greet with a classic handshake when formal, and a cheerful hi-5 style handshake when informal. Male to female and female to female usually kiss on the cheek even in formal situations. Although hand-shaking is accepted widely on formal situations.
If you speak Spanish, the correct way to address someone you don’t know or someone older than you is to use the “Usted” conjugation. It is usual for relaxed adults to tell you to treat them by “Tu” which is the informal second person pronoun. Respect for your elders is a virtue highly regarded here.
When doing communitarian tourism, volunteer work, or touring into remote areas, it is not uncommon that locals will want to share their food, drink or even give you a small present. We recommend you to be really respectful about this; some of them are sharing with you what little they have. They may not want anything in return; especially not money, but a smile and a “thank you” would be a good idea if you choose to receive their gifts.
The more comfortable Ecuadorian’s get with someone; they tend to shorten names, greetings and almost everything else. Buenos días, buenas tardes and buenas noches, become a single “buenas”. We have a lot ways of saying hello, and even more ways of saying good bye, however, “hola” is the word most used to greet and “chao” to say goddbye . Also don’t be surprised when people shorten your name, from Caroline to Caro, from Stephanie to Stephy just to point out a few examples. The fact of the matter is, here almost everyone has a little nickname, harmless and inoffensive in nature.
One last important thing, Ecuadorians are really “touchy”. They don’t necessarily share the same “personal space” concept as some other cultures. Don’t be scared about hugs and friendly kisses, they happen a lot and are normal between friends and family. Girls will receive a kiss on the cheek as a greeting almost always. | |
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