Puerto Lopez

What an unending dump!  Why would people choose to live this way?  What is the education level of the population?  Long stretches of roads look like the slums of India or Mexico.  Mangy dogs running around in every town we go to.   There are two things I like: they don't drink and they don't smoke.  Apparently they don't have enough disposable income to be able to do either one.  Liquor is phenomenally expensive.  Ron had a scotch in the place at the beach and it was $5, but my small (Coke-sized) bottle of wine was $11.  There were two glasses of wine in it, so that's more than $5 per glass. A 200 year old house in Beijing is better maintained, cleaner and nicer than a house here that may only be 25 years old.   These people seem to have no pride whatsoever.  In Cotacachi the shops are neat, clean, nicely lit and the goods are well displayed.  And our condo is up to American standards.  Must be the money that flows into Cotacachi. I guess I shouldn't be so harsh. Maybe all these people are just scrambling to get enough money for today's food. We can't figure out whether paint is something they think they can do without because it is expensive, or whether they just never get around to finishing a building. Whatever, it is not very attractive when all you see is concrete block.