When I first met my host family, I was really nervous to talk to them. Sure, I had learned Spanish in school, but living with an Ecuadorian family and only speaking Spanish was going to be a much different experience. But as the weeks passed, my confidence in the language grew, and I was able to start noticing and learning the unique sayings, vocabulary and slang words of Ecuador.
In your first five minutes in Ecuador, you are sure to hear someone saying "Siga nomás". Also, "coma nomás," "duerma nomás," "pida nomás," or pretty much any verb followed by "nomás." This saying stumped me and my friends for a while, because it seems contradictory... The literal translation is, "no more," so were my host parents telling me not to sleep/eat/ask any more? I eventually realized it was the opposite: nomás is a saying of encouragement, kind of like, "go for it," or, "do it without a second thought." Siga nomás is especially common as a blanket term for "go for it." People will tell you to siga nomás if you are passing in front of them, if you are at a restaurant asking to sit at a table, even when I was at the gym and asked to use a piece of equipment. If you say siga nomás in Ecuador, you will surely impress the locals!
Ecuador is a very cordial place; people here are incredibly polite.
