Living the life

Hey, so first apologies for no blogs in awhile. I have really just been living a normal life since returning from my travels and haven't felt inspired with anything to write. In many ways I feel that I am finally settling into living in Quito. Returning from my travels was odd in that for the first time I felt like I was returning home here. Although I still have some major issues with Quito, I have grown quite fond of it and am realizing that I will miss it when I leave.

In many ways it is truly a fascinating city. Quito now has 2 million people, up from around 300,000 people around 10 years ago. The city is literally exploding with growth and modernization, with the people just hanging on for dear life and trying to keep up pace. There are new buildings everywhere, each one looking much like the other, and none of them particularly attractive as the main requirement seems to be that they look expensive and are built fast. Also, the vast majority are built with no machines, instead there is a small army of men who built one floor and then stand on it to build the next. In another example, they are building a new airport because the present airport is too small and in the center of the city in a nice residential area. It originally wasn't built in a populated area, but the city has engulfed it and continued another 10 kilometers to the north. Truly incredible change on a scale that is just not seen in the United States.

The frightening aspect to all of this is that no one seems to be able to guide the change at all. All steps to deal with the issues are completely reactive in nature, such as the building of the new airport. However, unless someone does something the city will be disgustingly polluted and completely clogged with traffic in 5 years. It is already well on the way, and there seems to be no end in sight. Cars, which were not a major part of Quito 5-10 years ago are now everywhere, and the efforts at public transportation have not really made a significant impact. Also, there really are no emmission standards, with buses and trucks blowing out clouds of black smoke when they drive past you (really its disgusting, nothing to make you feel like the run was pointless when you inhale a giant black cloud of diesel).

Being in the United States you think about the effects of modernization (for instance there was no internet in 1993), but you don't really feel them. Here you can feel the flood of modernization and globalization and it is crazy. Within 100 kilometers you can go from a first world city to people who are completely capable of living without any machines in the jungle. Huge amounts of land in Quito is simply unowned, not like a national park, but like free for anyone to develope and own if they should so choose. Some of the modernization is definitely good, improving standards of living for millions of Ecuadorians. However, is all of it, or are there important things being lost? Here no one seems to be asking the question, instead they are simply swept along in the tide trying to hang on.