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After Living in Ecuador and the U.S., Marcelo is a Bridge Between Two Diverse Culturesby Linda McFarlinEditor’s Note: This is another in a series of stories of people who are either living in Ecuador for the first time or are returning to live in Ecuador after years of absence. Marcelo Penafiel is an Ecuadorian who worked for Exxon Mobil in the U.S. for many years. As a young man following his heart, he went to visit a girlfriend to the U.S. and ended up staying there for several decades. Like other Ecuadorians we have met, he prospered there and made a great life for himself. But something called him back to the land of his birth. The following is the story of his personal journey away from Ecuador and back again.
Marcelo’s Story
I Quit My Job On My Birthday
After living in Ecuador the first part of my life, I ended up in the U.S. with a North American wife and three children. I worked there for many years for a large American company that afforded me many benefits. I was able to make many of my dreams come true. Then on my birthday, May 5, 2007, I quit my job and I am now living in Ecuador again. I had always wanted to go back to Ecuador, to complete the cycle, to do something good with my life.  The last two years in the United States were difficult, with tough decisions to make. Just quitting my job was hard. My wife and I separated and then divorced. We are still good friends, but it was also very hard to leave my kids. And I wondered what I would do next. It’s incredible how it all worked out for me.
I Went to the U. S. Because I Fell in Love
In 1987, a wonderful young woman came into my life. A degree in hotel management landed me a position managing a hotel convention center in Quito. When there were no events scheduled, the hotel would contract with the U.S. to send us college students, who would write a college paper while they were in Ecuador and then go home to graduate. In the second group of students I met my future wife, fell in love with her and followed her to the U.S. After visiting her in Syracuse, N.Y., I said goodbye, thinking I would return to Ecuador. I went to Miami for a few days and then decided to stay. It was a great adventure for me, but unfortunately, I had to start all over. My Ecuadorian degree was no good there. I didn’t speak the language and I knew absolutely no one in Miami. Not only that, I had no money.
I Did What I Needed to Do to Survive
I told myself, “What the heck. I’ll do what I need to do to survive.” I walked the streets of Miami, living on the beach. With my six months’ tourist visa, I wasn’t supposed to work, but I needed to eat! One day someone told me, “At 5:30 a.m., go here, get on a bus and go wherever they take you to work.” So that’s what I did. My first job was picking tomatoes in Boca Raton. When my girlfriend graduated in June, ’88, I moved to D.C. and worked as a painter and framing carpenter. I loved doing additions and remodeling houses. To be legal, I attended a language school that gave student visas. At night I cleaned offices in a building belonging to Mobil Oil Corporation. I made friends, got married, applied for a job in the mailroom at Mobil Oil. Later I learned computers, became a secretary and then a price specialist, a position that had great benefits. After nine years of night school, paid for by the company, I received a B.A. in social science in business administration. It took me five more years to get an MBA. As a financial analyst and later a credit analyst, I traveled extensively to many countries and throughout the United States for 17 years. But I really wanted my own business, to start something of my own from scratch. So I made the decision to do it.
San Miguel Inspired Me
Three years ago I visited a new housing development in Cotacachi called San Miguel. I really loved the houses and wanted to buy one, but someone told me, “They are only for foreigners.” I was inspired to build my own development. My market is middle-class Americans who want a large home in Ecuador. I had a friend who quit Exxon Mobil before I did. He had money; I had the ideas. I suggested that we do something together and wrote up a business plan. He really liked it, but he’s very conservative--didn’t want to risk his money in Ecuador or any other foreign country. He offered to lend me $10,000 instead. So my brother Jimmie (Jaime) and I bought some land in Cotacachi. I took out some personal loans and charged them on my credit cards! There’s a guy in Maryland, whose parents are from Cotacachi. He grew up in the United States and is more North American than I am. We needed one more business partner. He told me he had $10,000 and that was all. I said, “I’ll take it!” So we incorporated our company in Ecuador, calling it “Investa.” I found our architect, Jorge Escheverria, on the Internet. He’s fantastic, trained in Santa Fe in adobe architecture. I am very pleased with the designs he has done for us. 
Our first custom-built house, the second in the development, turned out
great. We designed and built it for a friend of mine from the
states.
 This picture shows proud new home-owner Al along with Marcelo and the Architect Jorge Escheverria and his wife at the opening party of Al’s new house. When he came down to see it for the first time, we gave him a surprise party and welcomed him to the area. Many indigenous from the nearby village of El Batan attended. We are off to a great start in building an integrated community in Cotacachi!
Cotacachi has Changed
It wasn’t a big shock coming back, but living in Ecuador again, I did notice the impact that progress has made on Cotacachi. I used to sit on the steps of the church and spend hours having a quiet time. I would go up in the church tower and watch people on the streets.  I really liked the way Cotacachi was before--not many people on the streets, much quieter and friendlier. Everyone knew each other. Now the young people don’t know me at all. I feel a little bit like a stranger. I live out of town with my parents and don’t come into Cotacachi very much. I want to retire after I finish El Batan. It may take me ten years. I started three years ago and have two houses built now. I will have more than enough money for retirement when I finish this project. I want to help the economy here and my hometown. I don’t care about getting rich. Nothing in excess—just to have a quiet life, doing the things I love, like running, triathlons. I run in marathons all over the world with my running buddies. The longest one I’ve done was half of an Ironman.
Customer Satisfaction is Very Important to Me
My personal philosophy in building these houses is that the customer is important. I want each customer to be happy. We’re looking for customers who can adapt to this culture and environment.  If you expect Cotacachi or Ecuador to be like the United States, it’s not. People who are willing to learn new customs, to get involved with the community, to be able to blend in, they’re very welcome in our development, in our community. They’ll have an easier time living in Ecuador. For hints about how to integrate more easily and gracefully, click here for our article on being a Responsible Global Citizen. In exchange, I’ll be living in the development, too, and can help them. I love building houses exactly the way people want them built. We can modify any of our five current designs and floor plans to give homeowners what they want.
We Build Hand-Made Houses
We use no electric tools at all on site. The carpenters who made the doors and furniture use power tools, but they work off-site. Everything we do is hand-made the old way with hammers and wooden tools, many of which are also hand-made.  The adobe bricks for the houses are made from earth right on the premises and it takes eight months for the adobe walls to dry out. The tiles come from local suppliers or from Latacunga, two miles south. We use natural materials—eucalyptus beams, laurel floors and baseboards, ceramic tile and adobe.
Coming Home
I thought I’d die in the U.S. Life was great for me there, but I wanted to come back to my own land. I’d get depressed thinking that my parents would die without me here. I went to school with indigenous people, with Segundo, the guardian at the development. I know how they feel. They’ve been mistreated, treated as second class. Now I am living with and working with people I have known all my life. My children will be coming to visit me this summer. I’m getting a horse for Carmen, my eight-year-old daughter. Tony, my oldest, will be seventeen this year and Billy is ten. They are able to spend more time with their cousins in Ecuador and to learn more about their Ecuador culture and heritage. Hopefully, we will find a way to integrate the many different kinds of people coming to live in Ecuador so we can all live in peace. I am in a good position to help with that, since I have lived a long time in both North and South America. The cycle is completing, enveloping two hemispheres. Editors Note: We are excited about working with Marcelo. We see what a valuable asset he is for newcomers to Cotacachi. Having lived here for a year and a half, Gary and I understand how difficult adapting to a new culture can be. Because Marcelo grew up here, and also lived in the U.S. for many years, he is a bridge between the two cultures—Ecuador culture and North American culture. Those North Americans who purchase houses in Colonia El Batan can take comfort in knowing that there’s someone who deeply cares about all the people of Cotacachi. Marcelo is here to help all of us adapt to our new lives together. And he will be living in the same development. |
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