Unfortunately, that's true. Ecuador has changed, has been changing since I arrived. Some things for the better, but a lot of them not so much. As Expats or tourists, we still have not so much contact with the violence and suffering that the drug gangs are causing, but we see it on the news. And unfortunately, it's a vicious circle - tourism went down during 2020, gangs gained ground due to lack of work. That caused violence to go up, making tourism go down, and so on.

And the government does not offer solutions, neither are they able to regain control, nor to just handle the day-to-day matters like electricity and regular functioning of the parts of the economy that are not affected yet.

But I've lived through many things here, and am mostly prepared for anything now. So I can still enjoy life, and so can many others 🙃