I have been abroad in Quito, Ecuador for just over 2 months now and have put together a comprehensive list of occurrences that are definitely different here. These are general differences between Quito and the United States; ones that anyone from someone looking to move here or a tourist may be interested in, especially women.
Quito Rooftops
1. Shorts: In general, people do not wear shorts here unless they are playing a sport. At that, many women do not play soccer here, so they especially are not seen wearing shorts. In Parque Carolina, shorts are more acceptable as it is the main park to go running in and for soccer practices. So if you decide to wear shorts in Quito, expect catcalls and odd looks, especially if you’re a girl.
2. Quitenos like to dress up. Generally sweatpants are completely unacceptable outside of the house and sometimes even jeans are not dressy enough. For instance, I went to the grocery store with my host mom and not only did she appear to be in her Sunday best, but everyone else at the store was as well. Sloppy dressing is really just uncommon in Quito.
3. Shoes. This goes along with the previous point, but especially women tend to wear very dressy shoes. All the time. Shoes that you would normally see at a Prom or wedding are seen all over Quito on a daily basis. I’m talking about strappy shoes with 3-4 inch heels on women who are riding the bus.
4. Another note about the bus: the punishment for petty crime, such as pick-pocketing is really very low here, so on the bus, watch your things. It is very common to be unaware as someone either slides your cell phone, camera or wallet out of your back pocket while you’re unaware on a crowded bus, or they may simply slit your bag and slide whatever contents they want out of it. For this reason, if you have somewhere safe to store the things you really wouldn’t want stole, I highly suggest keeping your ID, credit card and passport there. There is no reason to consistently carry your passport around: just bring a copy.
On the same note, violent crime is pretty rare in Quito, so pick-pocketing is more what one would need to worry about.
