El viaje y mis pensamientos

27/1/2007

Hola chicas y chicos! O.K. Yo regresé a mi casa en Quito a las seis después de un viaje con CIMAS y los otros estudiantes. Fuimos a los Bancos y fue hermosa y tranquíla. Me encanta el campo, por eso el viaje fue muy divertido para mí.

During the trip, the students were able to bond and become much closer than before. It’s very difficult to get to know one another when we are really only supposed to speak Spanish because of our limited Spanish skills. However, I shouldn’t say that because some of the students are excellent Spanish speakers. We hiked through trails, went swimming in the river and the pool, made bread from scratch, learned how chocolate is made straight from the cacao plant, and ate A LOT. They eat such big meals here, so I am extremely full after every meal. I don’t want to be rude and only eat half, especially when I’m at my house in Quito.

Besides socializing and just talking with one another, we also did something that could be called an “icebreaker” but not as corny as I thought it would be. Essentially, we shared stories about an object or a person that is a significant part of our lives and why. It was interesting to here about other people’s personal lives and break down some barriers to becoming more of a family. My “object” represented the powerful women who are in my life. Although I haven’t received the object yet, the thought of it is very important to me. My mom has a pair of diamond earrings that have been passed down and at one point (I think once my sister and I get married) she will give each of us one earring to make into a necklace. I think that my mom, my grandma, and my great-grandmother are such strong women and I look up to them a lot; even if they don’t know it. When I think about how this experience will have its ups and downs, I especially look up to my mom (wow I feel like I’m about to cry). She has been through a lot and tends to keep it to herself, but I know how hard things can be. I’m so proud of her ability to keep her head up and it makes me feel blessed to have such a strong person to look up to in my life.

Once I got back to my house in Quito last night, mi mamita and I had a nice dinner just the two of us. We talked for about an hour and a half (yes in Spanish) about life in Ecuador: the problems which she is frustrated with, the new President, and especially her children. She always talks about how intelligent and great her children are, which they are, and it is disappointing to her that her children won’t be able to get a job in Ecuador that will pay enough. The only jobs for engineers (her older son in the U.S who is studying at the University of San Francisco—yea he’s not studying medicine, he’s trying to get his doctorate) in Ecuador pay $400/month, which is not enough to live on! How much of a disincentive is this for students to get a magnificent education and not be able to earn the rewards of all their hard work! I remember in my economic development class that a major problem in developing countries is that the government spends money on higher education but they don’t have jobs to pay the graduates what they deserve. Thus, many students end up leaving Ecuador to earn enough money to survive and perhaps send money back to Ecuador for the rest of the family (oh brain drain). You hear about such problems but for a mother with no work, and such brilliant children, this must be very stressful.

We also talked about the new president and how he is “representing the real people” and especially, the poor. However, a major issue is the National Congress which is very right wing, and conservative. She feels the only way any change will happen is if representatives aren’t corrupt and care about greater things than making money. Does this ring a bell in the U.S.? It seems that the only way a person can rise to power and become President or another political official, they have to have money in order to be known and have “ties” with other political officials (perhaps corruption). Qué lástima!

So, it seems that I’m getting more used to the city. It’s still hard because I feel like I can’t go anywhere alone, but with time it will come. Mi mamita is not very comfortable with me going anywhere alone, so I’m pretty sure that won’t happen for another week; except when I go to CIMAS and come back. Starting Tuesday, I’ll be taking the bus all by myself! Should be pretty interesting! Haha.

Once I get myself out there and force myself to be a bit more adventurous—a bit, and only safely—it will be much easier and I will be able to learn more of the language. I still feel like I have so much to learn about the language and it is hard for me to understand many people because they talk too fast. I’m going to try and watch more Spanish television, but the TV isn’t very clear so it’s hard for me to comprehend what is going on without seeing anything (I can only hear). Through the program, I can have a tutor and I’m thinking about doing it. It’s only for about a ½ hour or 1hr a week which may be very helpful. On Monday, I’m going to ask about the tutoring program I think.

Well lunch is in a few minutes! Man, I feel like I’m eating every five seconds—good thing I walked with mi mamita for 2 hours or so this morning. Then it’s time for lavar la ropa, then dinner, and then I might be going out. I figured out that one girl in my program lives more north of me, so we are going to try and meet and then meet everyone else after that way we aren’t alone for too long at night. Probably the easiest thing to do would be for her to take a taxi to me and then for us to take a taxi together to wherever everyone else is meeting. She is supposed to call me tonight, so we’ll see how that goes! I think it would be good for me to go out…I feel like I’m stuck in this house every night without anything to do except eat, sleep, or shower. This is okay, but I need to explore more and hang out with more locals to really get a handle on the language.

I’ll probably write another entry this weekend about my experience with washing my clothes (wow exciting) and going out tonight (much more exciting).

I miss all of my friends so much and I wish I could contact you more and talk with you more, but it is just so difficult!! Feel free to email me though or send me letters!! My address is on the left hand side of this page, so write to me!! I need all the support I can get. :)