In Ambato, the main language is Spanish, but there are many people who can also speak Kichwa. Kichwa is an indigenous language from Ecuador. Something interesting about Ecuadorian Spanish is that it has many Kichwa words mixed into daily speech. For example, when it's cold, you can say achachay, or if you are talking about a group of kids (like you) you call them guaguas, which means "children." Those are some Kichwa words that are in daily Ecuadorian Spanish!
Ecuador used to have its own currency, called the sucre, but in 2001 Ecuador switched to the U.S. dollar, just as we use. However, things are a lot less expensive here, so we use more coins and small bills rather than credit cards or Apple pay. Ecuador started printing its own coins that have the same value as the dollar, so sometimes an Ecuadorian coin can get put into the mix! I see dollar coins and 50 cent pieces often, as we use them for small things, such as bus fares or fruits and veggies.
