Work
Ecuador has 11% unemployment and 47% underemployment, so finding work here isn’t easy. Officially, you need a worker’s visa to be allowed to work in Ecuador. Aside from the occasional job opening at a tourist lodge or B&B, there is little opportunity for paid work. The one exception is teaching English.
Most paid English-teaching job openings are in Quito and Guayaquil. Schools sometimes advertise for teachers on the bulletin boards of hotels and restaurants. Pay is just enough to live on unless you’ve acquired a full-time position from home.
If you have a bona-fide teaching credential, so much the better. Schools such as the American School in Quito will often hire teachers of mathematics, biology and other subjects, and may help you get a work visa if you want to stay on. They also pay much better than the language schools. Check ads in local hotels and newspapers.
One of the best online ESL resources, complete with job boards, is Dave’s ESL Café (www.eslcafé.com).
Business hours
Banks open at 8am and close sometime between 2pm and 4pm Monday to Friday (though money-changing services usually stops around 2pm). Andinatel, Pacifictel and Etapa telephone call centers are almost invariably open 8am to 10pm daily. Post offices are generally open 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday and 8am to 1pm Saturday. In smaller towns they’ll close for lunch.
In Quito and Guayaquil, most stores and businesses of interest to tourists stay open from 9am to 7pm Monday through Saturday, usually with an hour off for lunch (around 1pm). Government offices and businesses such as Amex are open from about 9am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday, also with an hour off for lunch around 1pm. In smaller towns, especially in the hotter lowlands, lunch breaks of two hours are not uncommon. On Saturday, many stores and some businesses are open 9am to noon. Stores in major shopping malls are open between 8am and 10pm daily.
Restaurants often close on Sundays and opening hours can vary widely. Bars usually open between 5pm and 7pm and close between midnight and 2am.
