A Whole New World

This week has been a very interesting one.  It was the first our group of 16 spent in Ecuador.  The cloud forests were especially amazing to me.  The first night driving through the city was an eye opener for me.  So much of the advertising in Quito is geared towards "gringos".  One that especially stood out was one that referred to a Beatles´ song.  A long banner hung with the lyrics "let me take you down cus we're going to" and the restaurant was called Strawberry Fields.  I found it interesting that not only the music in itself made it all over the world but also that it was used here in such a way.  Even in the United States I rarely see a bar named after a song of a popular band and especially not one with the lyrics helping to advertise the store. It is interesting that the lyrics were not translated, either.  The preferred audience would almost have to be tourists.  It is a growing industry here and one of the mainstays of the economy so it would make sense to have advertising geared towards foreigners.  It gives merit to the idea of english becoming the lengua franca.  The advertising not only says ¨Come here gringos¨ but indirectly it could be telling the local population that it is hip and a sign of prosperity to take on the american way of life.  The places advertised in such a way were businesses that appeared to be doing fairly well.  The association with prosperity and the United States could be the driving force of westernization here.