Emily and I decided to see if we could open a savings account on our own. To open the account as non-citizens, we need the following items:
- Passports
- Color copies of our passports
- Proof of address (a utility bill)
- A reference letter from a current bank customer
- A carnet de empadronamiento (registration card)
The manager at our apartment complex was willing write the reference letter for us. It basically states that our account is current and that we are "courteous and pleasant" tenants.
The last item remaining was a residency card. To get one, we went to Provincial Migration Police Headquarters:
We explained to the guard what we wanted, but he kept saying, "No necesito!, No necesito!". Since the cedula replaces the need for a registration card, we don't need it. This was a fail; we'll have to wait until we get our cedulas to open the savings account.
To make something out of the trip, we went to Terminal Terrestre across the street. It's the central bus terminal for all local and inter-provincial in Guayaquil and Ecuador as well as buses going to Columbia and Peru. It's a huge place - about a third of a mile long:
We're going to be looking at properties on the ocean in the next couple of weeks and need a way to get to the coast to meet with the realtor. Since we had the time, we decided to see how the process worked.
There are multiple bus companies, of course, but the ticket sales booths are organized by destination:
One part of this process is very confusing/interesting. There are sales reps for each booth in the corridor trying to direct people to visit their booth, offering super-low prices to ride their bus. Since the buses are arranged by destination, however, this doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would I want to go to Cuenca for $6.00 when I could go to Manta for $4.50? I already know where I want to go!
(The prices really are that low, by the way. The general rule of thumb is that it costs just over a dollar per hour of bus ride, so a two hour bus ride costs about $2.25. Very cheap!)
I don't have pictures of the buses for this post, but they are modern, Greyhound style buses. From what I can tell, they don't allow chickens or goats on the buses.
We found a bus that goes to Montanita/Olon, our desired destination:
Price? $3.55. Seriously. For a 120 mile trip.
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