These songs have defined my time in Ecuador (60-41)

I have been in Ecuador for more than three years now.

In this time, I have been exposed, willingly and unwillingly, to a wide variety of songs and musical genres that have come to define my experience in Ecuador.

As I start to wind down my time here, I have decided to share with you a slice of my daily life in Ecuador. These are the songs that I have found emblematic of my service. Some of these songs were popular on buses. Some of these songs were played over and over by my neighbors in Arenillas at 6:00 a.m. I play some of these songs for my neighbors at 6:00 a.m.

I enjoy some of these songs. I detest others. But I can´t escape the fact that they are part of my Ecuador experience.

Obviously, others will have their own opinions, and I'd love you to share them in the comments sections. I've probably left out some classics. Please let me know which ones.

Thanks to the wonders of the YouTube, you can enjoy all of these. Keep in mind that I haven't seen most of these music videos because I mostly just hear these songs on the bus.

60. A mi lindo Ecuador



This is a classic folk song in Ecuador. Everyone knows it and loves it. We were first exposed to it during pre-service training, and trainees continued to learn for every time the ambassador would visit training. I can identify it by the first notes coming out of the wind pipes.

59. Noviembre sin ti - Reik



Radio la Voz de Arenillas, the small radion station in my site, would play this one a lot. It a mixture between pop and the love ballads that are so popular in Ecuador.

58. Angel de amor - Mana



Since moving up to Quito, I have been much more exposed to the Latin rock scene. Mana is the defining Latin rock band, and this is one of their hits.

57. Fuera de mi vida - Makano



This is one of those classic songs that you would hear when you are walking down the street, and it would get stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

56. Porque es tan cruel el amor - Ricardo Arjona



The women in my counterpart office in Arenillas loved belting out Ricardo Arjona songs. This is one of their of their favorites.

55. All up to you - Aventura (ft. Akon and Wisin y Yandel)



This is become a staple on the buses in the last year.

54. Lady - DJ Mendez



A dance party favorite.

53. Dile al amor - Aventura



This song cracks the list mostly because of the first two words. From there, Aventura churns out a great bachata song. Just a great song to listen to.

52. Una vaina loca - Fuego
Yeah, I realize there is a lot of reggaeton on this list. But those are the songs that get stuck in my head, and they are the songs that the jovenes (youth) listen to. This is one of them. Much like hip hop, the beats are catchy even when the words aren't that clean.

51. On the floor - Jennifer Lopez



A dance part favorite in Ecuador.

50. Calabria 2007 - Enur



A catchy dance song that gets stuck in your head all day if you hear it once on the bus.

49. Avispas - Juan Luis Guerra



A classic salsa song, not that I learned to dance salsa.

48. Nuestro lamento - Julio Jaramillo



Nothing says Sunday like men sitting in a circle, drinking Pilsener, listening to Julio Jaramillo, and crying.

47. Sexy bitch - David Guetta



For some reason, this song reminds me of the bus from Arenillas to Machala. Why? Probably because it seemed this song was played on repeat.

46. Taboo - Don Omar



I don't have any specific memories of this song, but it has been pretty popular for the better part of a year now. It's pretty popular on your local buses and at your dance parties.

45. Aire al respirar - Au-D



Au-D is one of the pioneers of Ecuadorian pop music. He has two really popular songs that I often confuse - one of them is much more emblematic than the other. This is the less memorable of the two.

44. Es un secreto - Plan B



This Venezuelan reggaeton group has really come in in the last year or so. This song reminds me of the bus from the Peace Corps Training Center up to Quito.

43. Rain over me - Pitbull



As you can tell, Pitbull is quite popular down here. This is another common song on the bus. My roommate really likes this for the part in this song when Marc Anthony yelps.

42. Cuando es - J King y Maximan



The youth groups that I worked with in Arenillas loved this song, which meant that I heard it a lot.

41. En vida - Gerardo Moran



This song is played at every campo baile (small town community dance).

Stay tuned for the next installment of the songs that have defined my time in Ecuador.