Jan 7: the Gringo tax

I was out on the town with my Spanish teacher today.  We visited the Cuenca museum and talked about the town.  I asked him how much he pays for the local Pilsner beer as I was confused. The bottle says $1.00. But I get charged $1.50. My Spanish teacher says $1.00 plus a ten cent bottle deposit. So to test this theory,  we approach this store together.  Sure enough I (with my Ecuador friend) was only going to be charged $1.10. But when we went to the store I regularly go, the vendor was going to charge $1.50. My Ecuador teacher asked why. The vendor justified it as a $.50 bottle deposit!  It is just another way of charging a Gringo tax here.