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# 005 – Inel comes from France and lives in Ecuador for more than 8 years. She has learned to adapt to the life and culture of her people. At 26, he took a risky action and decided that he wanted to teach his passion from childhood: acrobatics. But how to found an academy in a foreign country and what are the difficulties involved? Listen to this episode to find out.
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Today's guest: Inel de Gravité Zero
Born in 1992 in the French Alps, she settled in Cuenca, Ecuador in 2012 where she obtained a university degree in tourism engineering before launching her venture: Gravité Zero, an artistic training center specialized in floor and aerial acrobatics. Today Inel and Gravité Zero are a bridge between foreigners and Cuencans where strong interpersonal ties are created.
Gravité Zero Instagram
Gravité Zero YouTube
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- How do Americans think? A letter from an expat
In this letter, an expat living in USA tell us how do Americans think through his eyes and experience. Click here to read. - Study in Portugal, an exciting journey in this whopping World?Find reasons to study in Portugal from the perspective of Juditova. Is it appropriate for you too?. Click here to read.
- Phantasialand, an immersive theme park in GermanyPhantasialand is a theme park located near Bonn. The exchange students went there to enjoy the ride. Click here to read.
- Independence of Mexico nostalgic party in GermanyThe Independence of Mexico was celebrated by classmates during a nostalgic party in Germany but I had to avoid neonazis. Click here to read.
- Visit from a friend, a short connection back to homeDuring the exchange year, I faced loneliness a few times. Luckily, I got a visit from a friend from my country. Click here to read.
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Transcription
[00:00:00] Inel: less mature. I came to a girls' school, with a Catholic uniform, in which my classmates who were the same age as me, 15 years old, wore the Barbies to play at recess. It was a pretty strong culture shock, really. [00:00:21] Juditova: You just heard from Inel, a former exchange student from France in Ecuador. What makes Inel interesting is the ease of adapting to a foreign country with cultural differences. She has managed to get ahead as an entrepreneur in an acrobatics academy business in Ecuador, in a country completely foreign to her. What is it like to be able to set up your business in a foreign country, where nobody knows you, you don't have all the rights as a citizen, but you still find a way to continue? Stay with us at Audioviajes to find out. [música de fondo] [00:01:17] Juditova: Welcome to the Audioviajes podcast. I am Juditova, traveler, backpacker and polyglot. I will be your host together with Fran Sepu, co-author of voyageLlama. We will tell you fascinating stories from around the world, interview other travelers and help you take the first step. You can find the episode notes, the transcript and much more by going to voyagellama.com/podcast. Here we go. Juditova: Hello, dear Inel. Welcome to the Audioviajes podcast. Thank you very much for coming and being here with us. [00:02:02] Inel: Thank you for the invitation, it is a pleasure for me to be part of this podcast and talk about such interesting topics as we are going to do today. [00:02:10] Juditova: Yes. We're going to have a really cool conversation today. Let's see, please tell us about yourself, for the listeners. Tell us about your city and country of origin and tell us how you got involved in acrobatics, circus and other related shows. [00:02:32] Inel: Well, I was born in Grenoble in France and I spent most of my childhood in a town in the Alps, in the mountains near Grenoble, called Alba and I think I have been doing stunts since I was born, almost. I remember spending a lot of time in the gardens of my parents and my grandparents on these typical wooden or ring swings and trapeze. [00:02:59] Juditova: I suppose your first activity, what you liked to do the most as children were kites? [00:03:05] Inel: Exactly, yes the roles. [00:03:07] Juditova: I imagine. [00:03:09] Inel: Like every child who likes to find out what happens when he moves his body in some way, what happens when he tries to invert himself, stand on his head. They are things that every child always enjoys experiencing. [00:03:28] Juditova: What was your first act or show that you did in front of an audience? [00:03:39] Inel: She was already integrated into the circus school. I don't remember, but maybe seven, eight years old. I was seven years in a circus school, from the age of six. At each end of the school year we had a show, a show of what we did so that parents can see the progress. In the same way, in the circus holiday colonies under a tent, in which I was lucky enough to participate for three years, we also did a circus show. [00:04:12] Juditova: You told me those were in the Alps, right? [00:04:17] Inel: Yes. [00:04:18] Juditova: It is a small town of 500 people, if I'm not bad. [00:04:21] Inel: Exactly. [00:04:25] Juditova: What was your role? What activity did you do? [00:04:29] Inel: At the circus? [00:04:31] Juditova: In the show. [00:04:34] Inel: I dedicated myself to various circus activities, in general, but what I liked the most all my life was the trapeze and balance, in what is now modernly called slackline, which are those tempered ropes in which you try to walk without falling. [00:04:54] Juditova: I didn't know the name, but I've always seen them that in circuses they use those long bars to balance themselves. How did you feel? You no longer practiced in a small studio, but now you were doing them, I don't know if in front of your parents, in front of hundreds of strangers. What was that experience like? [00:05:18] Inel: I really liked it. The truth is that since I was a child I discovered that I hated competition. I did not feel comfortable in a sport in which you had to go to participate in competitions and look for the podium and the medal. On the other hand, for me the show and the sample, expressing in public what I like to do the most, is what makes me proud, that makes me feel good, surely it raises my self-esteem. [00:05:48] Juditova: How good, how nice, very good, cool. You also told me that one of your favorite sports, after acrobatics, was skiing and that you spent three months in Andorra, that it seemed perhaps in winter that you were skiing and ice skating. Tell us a little about this experience. [00:06:13] Inel: Yes, because of my father's work, at the age of nine I had the opportunity to live a term in Andorra, a principality with a lot of money. We lived in a small town that had an Olympic climbing, an Olympic swimming pool and an Olympic ice rink. There I left the circus and dedicated myself to figure skating, which has many similarities with the aerial ones that I now dedicate myself to in the circus, because we are working on spinning, which are turns, we are working on balance, balances. [00:06:48] Juditova: That also works for you in the circus and stunts. [00:06:52] Inel: A totally complementary experience. [00:06:56] Juditova: Very interesting. Please tell me and the listeners too, about your experience in Ecuador. First, you wanted to travel on an exchange when you were 14 years old and you started to do all the documents. Tell us about the options you had to travel and why you chose or why it was that you agreed to go to Ecuador. [00:07:27] Inel: I was selected by the Rotarians because the rector of the high school where I was at that time, was a member of the Rotarians and analyzed the profiles of his students to see who had a profile of being able to travel and spend a year abroad . He called me to fill out the forms and apply to this program. What I did when I was 14 years old, choosing New Zealand as the first country, because of the fame that such spectacular country has, the landscapes and I also wanted to improve my English. New Zealand was my first choice. Ecuador was my second choice for details. In Andorra I had already had an approach to Spanish and I had liked it a lot, so I wanted to dedicate myself to learning more Spanish. I had heard about the Galapagos all my life, we had Ecuadorian coffee and chocolate at home. I wanted a small country where I could get to know during the year I was going to be, so I put Ecuador in second option and Norway in third option, which I had had the opportunity to meet a couple of years before with my parents on a trip in a camper. Camper is awesome. They accept me in New Zealand and after three months they send us an email to let us know that they will not receive any girls the following year, because they had had several problems with women. I really didn't know what happened, but I was left with another option to go to Ecuador. So I accepted the proposal to go to Ecuador and that is how, with the force of destiny, I arrived at Cuenca in 2008. [00:09:22] Juditova: Cuenca, Ecuador. The third largest city in Ecuador. Compared to Grenoble, is it smaller than Grenoble, more people than Grenoble? [00:09:34] Inel: It is very similar. It is a little bit bigger than Grenoble. Cuenca is very similar, because it is a town surrounded by mountains, a city surrounded by mountains, Grenoble has a large river running through it. There are many similarities between Grenoble and Cuenca. What I would say the biggest difference is that in Cuenca we do not have as many stations as there are in Grenoble that we have an extremely hot summer and a snowy winter, things that I have not seen here yet. [00:10:07] Juditova: Yes, they are very drastic. Here there is only the season where it rains and where it rains less. [ríe] [00:10:16] Inel: Exactly. [00:10:19] Juditova: What a note. When you got closer to Ecuador, your exchange family contacted to welcome you, I guess. What was it like coming into contact with such a foreign culture? Did they speak to you in English or French? As was? [00:10:40] Inel: It turns out that with Rotarians, you go to a family and this family has sent their son to some other country, if so, internationally. Fernanda wrote to me in French that she was my exchange sister, that I was not going to meet, because she was traveling to Belgium and how she was studying French. [00:10:59] Juditova: At the same time as you? [00:11:01] Inel: Exactly. She was already studying French at the French Alliance, she wrote to me in French directly. I was trying to improve my Spanish, but it was more when I got here and after having to immerse myself in the language 24 hours later that I could learn better. [00:11:21] Juditova: Sounds interesting. Now comes the part we all want to hear. Tell us about your culture clashes, the good and the bad. Because although it seems like a joke, but we need both. I believe that when we leave another country, we always have to be aware of the good things that are going to happen to us and also the bad things. Tell us about your experience, please. That experience was in 2008, right? [00:11:52] Inel: Yes, 2008, 2009. I did not know the United States, when you arrive in Ecuador I think you find various elements of American culture, which are already well established in Latin America. That was quite a big crash, the malls-- [00:12:13] Juditova: Can you name a few? [00:12:16] Inel: The malls, the big food chains, the customs of huge parties. I was just 15 years old, I used to go to quinceañera parties, which are things we don't do at all in France. The dependence on the family that for me, the dedication to the family that can be found in Ecuador is wonderful. It fascinates me that everyone can be so aware of grandfather, grandmother, grandson and so on. It also has its limits, in the sense that I did come to feel several times that adolescents did not enjoy a freedom that would have allowed them to acquire more autonomy or independence. That is also a cultural issue, you have its pros and cons. What other things impacted me? [00:13:09] Juditova: You found people your age, in that sense, less mature than you or more mature? How was that crash? [00:13:18] Inel: Less mature. I came to a girls' school, in uniform and Catholic, where my classmates, who were the same age as me, 15 years old, wore the barbies to play at recess. It was a pretty, pretty strong culture shock. [00:13:37] Juditova: I did not imagine that[ríe] . Tell me about your school in France. How was it? Was he a layman? Was it non-religious? [00:13:44] Inel: Sure, layman, mixed, with a large park. My classmates went out to smoke at recess, they were already adults. It was very different. [00:13:59] Juditova: Very good. After maybe three months or five months, how did you get immersed or mixed with the people of the place? Maybe you already spoke better Spanish, you already had your Latin friends. Tell us about your experience. Maybe you had a little episode where you wanted to go back to France for a few days or forever. Tell us about your experience. [00:14:34] Inel: Rather, I think that the advantage of Rotarians is that they allow you to come in a family and that this family, at least I was lucky enough to be welcomed as their own daughter. Obviously it is much easier to integrate when you integrate directly into a circle, even if it is not the social circle with which you would have instinctively related. It was very easy, actually, because with the school I was already in contact with people my age, with the family I was also in meetings of very interesting people who were very interested in what I did. It was very natural and rather my despair was having to return to France, which was very hard, because for that I had already spent 10 months here. I had already fallen in love, I had loved the city and it was hard for me to imagine going back to my old French life and it took me a lot, in fact, to readjust. So much so that I didn't stay there long. [00:15:38] Juditova: Notice that when I was on an exchange at the same time as you, there were people who wanted, some exchange partners of mine, for example, I remember an American who wanted to return to the United States, but only for a week. It was a very strong nostalgia. I remember that I really did not want to stay that long all at once, in one go. For him perhaps it was a long time away from home, from his comfort or from familiar faces. I remember that when I was there, I think I was there for three months in Germany. I had the occasional nightmare that I was going to return to Ecuador, and I, "No, I don't want to yet. I'm still having a great time here." In fact, I remember when I moved to another city, when I was in Germany for five months, I had the impression that Ecuador was a distant memory. I remember this because I described it in an email to other people. I can't believe I wrote that, saying, as if I had lived in another country. It is a distance, it is difficult to describe this feeling, but you feel already mixed with the culture where you are. [00:17:11] Inel: Yes. Of course. I think everything depends a lot on the attitude that you put to prepare for your trip and that you already have in the place, because obviously, if you are all the time discouraged or nostalgic, it is going to cost you a lot to enjoy the new life that you are creating. . [00:17:31] Juditova: I knew it was temporary, because after 11 or 10 months I knew that I was going to return to Ecuador, but I did not know when I was going to return to Germany again. [00:17:43] Inel: That's harder, right?[ríe] . [00:17:48] Juditova: The Song of the Titanic[ríe] . Let's see. Now, let's continue with a very important topic, that you have mastered it almost 95%, which is called-- Please tell us about the university that you studied, your degree, your undergraduate degree here. How were your immigration papers? If you have any other stories about your documents, maybe you were illegal here for a while while formalizing your papers. Please tell us about your experience. [00:18:23] Inel: After my exchange, which ended in 2009, in 2012, after finishing school in France, trying university there, even though I did not readjust, I decided to return to Ecuador and study here at the UDA, in Cuenca. I followed engineering in tourism. I arrived and made student visas. Which was not very complicated, it did require time, it did require a lot of paperwork and money, but now, it was two days a year that it complicated my life and that's it. [00:18:58] Juditova: One question. I remember that to request a visa for the European Union I need to prove that I have so much money in my bank account. Did you also have to prove in your bank account in France? [00:19:12] Inel: Actually, now that you remember. In my first visa I had this problem, that to get the visa I needed an Ecuadorian bank account and to open an Ecuadorian account I needed a visa [ríe] [00:19:28] Juditova: It was a chicken and egg problem. [00:19:31] Inel: Unfortunately, administrative things in the country are with contacts. Moving contacts I got someone to open an account for me at the bank and then get the visa, and then show the visa at the bank[ríe] . After five years of student visas, I am already in the phase of making my professional visa with the title of the university and of engineering in tourism. Until they enroll the degree in SENESCYT, which is the education system here in Ecuador, my student visa was almost expiring. I request an appointment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the page and they give me the appointment for 18 days after my visa expires. I review the law and there I find that you normally have 30 days in case of illegality to resolve your immigration situation. [00:20:26] Juditova: Yes, just in case you had a problem. Yes. [00:20:31] Inel: I'm leaving the day of the appointment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and there they did behave very badly and threatened me that I had to leave the country, pay a fine of $ 800, do the papers again from abroad and what if I didn't did, he was prohibited from returning to the country for the next eight years. [00:20:52] Juditova: Don't scrub. [00:20:56] Inel: It was very complicated there and I had to hire lawyers to file a complaint with the Ministry. Just with the threat of lawyers, they decided that I could get my professional visa. [00:21:09] Juditova: I can't believe it. [00:21:10] Inel: My professional visa lasted two years and now I already have an indefinite residence. [00:21:15] Juditova: It's that I imagine myself abroad and hiring lawyers. That must be intimidating. [00:21:21] Inel: Yes, it is not easy. [00:21:22] Juditova: You are in a strange place. That must be the problem. [00:21:26] Inel: Sure. On the other hand, it is a budget that you do not consider at any time, paying lawyers, the visa in itself is expensive. [00:21:33] Juditova: No. At that moment you only think of Baños de Ambato, beach and the jungle[ríe] . Very well. Let's see. Continuing. How long have you been? You said five years if I'm not bad, on a student visa. [00:21:53] Inel: Yes. Then two years of professional visa and now I have almost two years with the infinite, definitive residence, let's say. [00:22:04] Juditova: Indefinite. How was that last process of getting that legality of being able to live here in Ecuador to[unintelligible 00:22:15] ? [00:22:16] Inel: I already got that once we married Francisco. Once married, they call us for an interview in which they ask us questions separately and we have to answer the same thing. There they decide that it is a legal marriage and they gave me that-- [00:22:33] Juditova: A happy marriage. [00:22:35] Inel: That definitive residence. [00:22:40] Juditova: The best advice is to marry an Ecuadorian or Ecuadorian in order to achieve maximum legality. [ríe] [00:22:46] Inel: It's the easiest. It really is the easiest, yes. [00:22:50] Juditova: Those procedures are long and complicated, but that's how you have to do to leave. Tell us about a topic that I really admire a lot about you, which is your entrepreneurship. You traveled abroad and built your own academy. You decided that you are going to register your new company, declare your taxes and do all the legal procedures so that you can live and make a living from that, especially from this academy. Tell us first what your academy is and how you formed it. [00:23:39] Inel: It is an artistic training center called Gravité Zero, in which we are dedicated to aerial and floor acrobatics. There is all my circus base and my desire since I was a child to be a trapeze artist. [00:23:54] Juditova: Sure. Go figure. You do what you loved to do as a child, even in adolescence, you can apply it now, you are a teacher. [00:24:04] Inel: You always have to dream big[ríe] . I studied engineering in tourism, because it was the closest thing to cultural management that there is here and I wanted to know a little about the cultural world here in Ecuador. Upon graduation I entered an academy. Before, during my studies, I was already teaching airplanes, private classes in small venues, and so on, on my own. When I graduated, I started working at an aerial dance academy for two years, during which I became a little familiar with the permit system, with taxes, the SRI, which is the income system. [00:24:50] Juditova: How old were you at that time? [00:24:55] Inel: When I open Gravité Zero I am 26 years old. Yes, 26 years old. I was tired of being an employee, I wanted to be an entrepreneur and I wanted to do what I liked the most. Actually I wanted to do it, but I kind of lacked an impulse, to tell you, "Yes, you are brave enough to throw yourself." There I do owe a big one to my students at the time, to my students who had already been taking classes with me for several years, who themselves helped me find a place and once they gave me the place, they told me, "Now I do get ready. and do everything right. " I started out in partnership with two or three girls. When you are an entrepreneur, it is easier to start as an associate to be able to divide your tasks a little. Now I am alone. [00:25:51] Juditova: For listeners who do not know, the SRI is a company within Ecuador that helps you to declare taxes and bring the legitimacy of your company to the State. For example, I start to read a legal document in Spanish and it has many complicated words. I can't imagine reading such complicated words in English or German to say the same thing in Spanish. Tell me how it was. Headache. [00:26:31] Inel: That in any bureaucracy, in any country, I think that's the way it is. One, the studies here had already made me somewhat familiar with all of those topics. Two, it is very good to always have a lawyer friend, a relative or someone who can clarify a little everything that is said there, put it in Spanish. [00:26:57] Juditova: In Christian[ríe] . That is one of the most important things, contacts. Because really those help you anywhere, even in the homeland or in your native country, but when you travel it is even more important to have friends in the country it is-- [00:27:17] Inel: Yes, I think that the deal you want to undertake in a foreign country, you need two basic things, which are knowing how to adapt to your clients, especially if you are going to work in the service area and have good contacts that can help you solve the issues, because it is not so easy to delegate a new-born venture, you need people who can support you [00:27:40] Juditova: Yes. It takes time to get used to this culture. [00:27:46] Inel: Yes, it takes a long time. In fact, I feel that I will never be 100% used to it, there are things that keep calling my attention, astonishing or angering me. [00:27:57] Juditova: You will always take your culture with you, that is indisputable. My dear Inel, I feel like I can talk to you hours of hours of hours. Please tell us, if someone wants to contact you or find out more about your academy, where can they find you? [00:28:18] Inel: You can write to us on social networks like gravite_zero_cuenca on Instagram and on Facebook. You can also check our YouTube channel Gravité Zero Cuenca. You can also use these channels if you have more questions about how to emigrate to Ecuador, how to start a business in Ecuador. I do not guarantee to be able to solve the questions of other countries, but at least I consider that for Ecuador I already have a little experience in the matter, so do not hesitate to contact me. The same is always good to exchange and learn from others. [00:28:54] Juditova: Yes. Always. If you could give us a rule to be able to be abroad, only one, which would be the most important that you consider. [00:29:07] Inel: I think it would be the ability to adapt to the place, to customs, to people, to clients, to unpleasant things, because we always get used to pleasant things very quickly and we adapt very well. [00:29:21] Juditova: Yes, easily, we fall in love with the country where we go. Of course, the hardest part is the one we don't like, always that. Inel, thank you very much for your time, thank you for being here. It was great. [00:29:35] Inel: To you for the invitation and go ahead with those interesting podcasts. It won't take long to hear the next episode. [00:29:42] Juditova: Thank you very much. See you there. See you soon. [00:29:45] Inel: Bye. [00:29:50] Juditova: And that was the interview with Inel. If you liked the episode, click on subscribe, wherever you listen to your podcast and review the rest of Audioviajes episodes. You can also help other people find this podcast. For that, please give us a positive rating within the review area. Juditova says goodbye. We will see you in the next episode. Bye. That's it for this episode. I hope you had your moment of disconnection. For more stories, cultural experiences, interviews and tips, visit the website, voyagellama.com/podcast. I am Juditova. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. Song composed and produced by Nicolás Judi and Dark Fantasy Studio, under the premium license. [música de fondo]
