When my parents visited in December, they brought me lots of wonderful gifts from home. Basically, everyday items that I could not find here, like pine nuts and vanilla extract. And The Economist - my favorite magazine. It is not published in Ecuador because the guy who owns the rights has chosen not to publish it, probably because he couldn't make money off of it. I'm sure that I would be one of maybe 13 readers in this country of 13 million.
Unfortunately, the special double winter issue, which is the best of the best, was not available when my parents were coming here, so they shipped it to me when they returned to the states, along with a book, a sweater, some contact lenses, Cheez-Its. All simple stuff. The FedEx invoice stated the value of all items to be $25 (even though they are probably worth a little more). I don't know how much the shipping itself cost, but lets assume another $30, or more like $40 when you include the labor done my my parents to acquire and pack all the items. That's $65 already...
The package was shipped three weeks ago. It was supposed to arrive two weeks ago. After repeated calling, we finally found out where the package was. As of yesterday it was in Cuenca, but to get it into my possession I need to pay another $35! This is how it breaks down...customs is about $20. I mean, I have to pay $20 for customs to go through my box, try on my sweater, and probably eat the Cheez-Its. Apparently the government does not pay for this service, but the people using it do. Of that $20, $15 is for "management," $2 is for "storage" and $3 for "other." Then that $20 is taxed. So I get to pay about $23 for the privilege of customs keeping my stuff in a warehouse for two weeks.
Then there is the other bill, $12 in taxes. I need to pay $12 in import taxes on items that are worth $25. That's about 50%! And then, of course, I have to pay taxes on the taxes (well, I guess it's taxes on the tariff, but that's really the same).
So, in total, one issue of The Economist has now cost $100.
I hope that it's good :)
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Hi Judith,
I had been thinking seriously about teaching ESL in Ecuador. But your travails with bureaucrats have me recognizing that there is no end to how much they will extort in fees and wasted time. The country resembles the former Soviet Union in its paper chase and appetite for cash. I think I'll look elsewhere. Your several accounts have persuaded me that Ecuador is in business to bleed anyone to death who resides there. Thanks for writing an honest and entertaining blog.
~eric.
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