Equador

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Appearance

For dress, formality increases as you move inland. Inland, business dress should be conservative. Men should wear dark suits and women should dress conservatively and modestly -- a suit or dress.
Ecuadorians stand closer together when conversing than North Americans.
It is considered impolite to yawn or point at others in public.
Nervous, repetitive movements (toe tapping, knee jiggling, thumb twiddling, and so forth) should be minimized -- Ecuadorians find them annoying.

Behavior

Make appointments about two weeks in advance.
Have business cards printed in English on one side and the translation in Spanish on the other. Present the card with the Spanish side facing your Ecuadorian colleague.
Lunch is the customary time for the main meal and is the usual business meal. Ecuadorians are used to alcohol with lunch.
Women should note that while it is acceptable to drink wine, Ecuadorians are not accustomed to seeing a woman drink whiskey or other hard liquor.
If a businesswoman wishes to pay for an Ecuadorian man’s meal, arrangements should be made ahead of time, otherwise the man will refuse to let her pay.
If you are given a gift, be very effusive in your thanks.
Fine wines and liquors make good gifts. Avoid lilies and marigolds, which are used at funerals.
Let the host make the toast first, then you may wish to make one.

Communications

Handshaking common when arriving and when leaving.
Men friends embrace and women friends kiss.
Titles are important and should be included on business cards. Address a person directly by using his or her title only. A Ph.D or a physician is called Doctor. Teachers prefer the title Profesor, engineers go by Ingeniero, architects are Arquitecto, and lawyers are Abogado. Persons who do not have professional titles should be addressed as Mr., Mrs., or Miss, plus their surnames. In Spanish these are:

Most Hispanics have two surnames: one from their father, which is listed first, followed by one from their mother. Only the father’s surname is used when addressing someone.
Relations with neighbor Peru have always been strained.
A famous part of Ecuador are the Galapagos Islands.
Good conversation topics: family, culture, history.
Bad conversation topics: politics, U.S. political influence.

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