My First Post from Ecuador!!

24/1/2007

Disculpame por el tiempo largo que no puedo escribir en este “blog” pero no tengo el internet en mi casa y no he tenido tiempo para buscar un internet café. Pero estoy aquí ahorita! Es mejor en español o en inglés? Necesito practica en español pero para mis amigos y mi familia que quieren leer esto, es mejor en inglés.

Okay, hello all! So, I am in Ecuador and it is fantastic! Although it seems my Spanish isn’t too bad (unless you know how to speak Spanish and realize all the mistakes I’ve made), I feel it is terrible. I can barely understand the family that I live with! Everyone talks rapídismo (very fast). I don’t have too much trouble with the professors at CIMAS (the organization that runs the program and works closely with the University of Minnesota) because they pronounce their words clearly and realize that many of us have some difficulties with Spanish. But, it is very different in my home-stay because they are used to talking fast and not pronouncing every letter. We do this English, but do not realize it because it is our first language! Wow, this is actually hard to write because I am starting to think a little bit more in Spanish every day.

In any case, I need breaks from Spanish because I seriously have headaches at night because I feel like I am always thinking so much about what other people are saying and about what I need to say. It is a crazy feeling. I realized in the past two days that I am going to have a difficult time doing this research project. I need to have 100x more confidence in my ability to speak Spanish than I do right now. I am afraid to explore the city because I think I’ll get lost and never find my way back because I am not confident with my Spanish skills. But just as my professor says at CIMAS “a poco a poca” (a little bit each day, a little bit at a time and everything will be easier—very optimistic). One problem that I have is when “mi mamita” (my home-stay mother) is talking to me and I don’t understand, I just nod my head and say “Sí, sí!” Obviously, this is not the way to learn the language, but I feel terrible saying every five seconds “repita por favor?” (Repeat please?) or “más despacio por favor (much slower please!). But, I realize I need to do this if I want to be fluent in Spanish, which has always been my goal since the 8th grade.

Okay, so how to approach this project? Well, I think in a week or two my Spanish abilities will be much better. Plus I need to get acquainted with the city before I can even think about the project. But, I do think that the classes I am taking are a great way to start this project. I haven’t started classes yet, but I will start soon. We will be talking about the multidimensional nature of development and how so many different factors are connected and cannot be separated when investigating how development does or could work in a country. We will be studying philosophy, history, economics, politics, and other parts of the many cultures that are in Ecuador. It’s important to realize that Ecuador is a country with much diversity. Not only including its biodiversity in plants, flowers, mammals, birds, etc. But also, the country has a “megadiversidad” in people, cultures, experiences, and values. It’s the same in every country but is underestimated and misunderstood. Not everyone in Ecuador have the same interests, the same goals, or the same values. Thus, development cannot be a model for the country. Instead, there needs to be bottom-up growth in opportunities because they are the ones living in these conditions. If they are happy with their current lifestyles then if people from the outside try to change parts of their lives, they will definitely not be successful.
So I’m guessing people are interested in what the heck I’m doing here. Well, on Monday we arrived in Quito around 10:15pm and then we were off to a hotel for the night. However, we had to wait at the airport for about an hour because some students were late and one student didn’t have his checked bags because they were lost. (Qué lastima!). Good news: he got them back on Wednesday. So, we stayed in the hotel on Monday and then waited for a staff member of CIMAS to meet us at the hotel and bring us to CIMAS on Tuesday morning. While waiting, we had breakfast at the hotel. I forgot how much I love breakfasts in Latin America. The fruit is amazing. I know I need to be careful with it (because of the water that is used to wash the fruits—especially if they don’t have skin to peel), but the fruits are just so fantastic. I can’t resist! There is always fruit, bread, coffee, and juice. When I’m in the states, I feel like it is a routine, but here it seems so much more meaningful. You are always sitting with other people and talking about life or what have you. I don’t know how to explain but it is just different.

Once we got to CIMAS we received a fabulous welcome from all the staff. Our Spanish professor, Emilia, is fantastic. She is so patient with us and always wants to help. She also emphasizes that we, students, have to eliminate our fears of Spanish, eliminate the concept of competition between each other, and we have to become a family; a community. These are the most important things to know right now. I have never heard a Spanish teacher say such things. Man, this place is amazing. After meeting different people who work at CIMAS we listened to presentations about the organization, its history, its objectives, what the organization offers us and what we will give back to the organization. I think CIMAS is a magnificent place. Everyone is part of a family and they have such great ideas and models for students to learn about development. I’ll get into that once the classes start next week. Then I finally met my family that night (Tuesday night). Mi mamíta se llama Mónica Proaño and she has two sons. One lives in the United States while he is studying at the University of San Francisco. I thought that he was studying medicine, but today mi mamíta said something about him being an engineer so now I’m a little confused (again Spanish abilities = subpar). Her other son, who lives with us in Quito, se llama Diego Ricardo and he is 22 years old. He is also studying science like his brother. He is studying medicine, chemistry, is working in a hospital, and also teaches high-school students science (como mi mamá en los Estados Unidos!). So there are three of us living in Quito in an apartment. I will try to put a map up soon with where I am living so you have more of a reference point.

So, that is basically the deal right now. Today, mi mamíta showed me the route I have to take to CIMAS from my apartment, but the bus system is pretty chaotic. It’s hard to tell which bus to get on and people jump on and off while the bus is still moving. Craziness. But I’ll get used to it. I need to ask mi mamíta another time what the names of the buses are that I need to take in the morning. I remember that in order to get back to the apartment I need to take the bus que dice “estadio” because we live close to a huge soccer stadium que se llama “el estadio olímpico”. I hope everyone knows who is reading this that you will be learning spanish with me!! Haha.

Ahh, I need to take more pictures! I haven’t taken one! But tomorrow, we are going on a trip to the north-west of the country to see, first-hand, the biodiversity throughout the country. I will try to upload these to the website as soon as I can! However, it is very difficult because I don’t have much access to the internet. In any case, I will try my best.

Okay, es a las nueve y cuarenta y tres por la noche y puedo levantarme a las siete menos cuarto. Ay! Muy temprano! Y necesito practicar mi español y no puedo hablar en inglés. Sin embargo, hablé con mi madre en los estados unidos para una media hora porque le extraño a mi mama mucho. En realidad, les extraño a todos mi amigos y mi familia pero generalmente hablo con mi mamá todas las días y es muy extraño que yo no puedo hablar con ella. O.K. Necesito dormir. Hasta la próxima vez.