Cultural Immersion

El Dueño
see all photos »

My second week things truly kicked off with the arrival of 20 twenty something KFC hostesses. Our nightly ritual for these first three days of the week consisted of five or six gringos and a couple Ecuadorian friends piling into the back of a pickup truck and riding into town. Judging by the stares I decided that arriving in town like this is akin to showing up in a stretch limo.

We would pile up and size up the scene: a bar filled with dancing local girls and only a few local guys. People have asked me why I wanted to travel. I was now forever equipped with a firm reason.

After a few minutes of sex-segration, a la middle school dances, the brave among us filtered to the dance floor

see all photos »

However challenges did present themselves, in the form of dancing prior to drinking. Gringos cannot do this under normal circumstances.

But these were not normal circumstances and after a few minutes of sex-segregation, a la middle school dances, the brave among us filtered to the dance floor and the rest followed in a progression of kicked shins, goofy smiles and stereotypes confirmed.

When we were ready to go back to the Sundown we would all pile into the same truck as before with one difference, this time the handful of gringos were accompanied by 20 young women. I believe this is an experience everyone should have at least once.