Elvig's Journey

DONE!

elvi0268 — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 18:22:00 GMT

Today I gave my facilitation speech. It went pretty smooth I thought. We talked about education in Ecuador. I thought it was the most interesting topic just because it’s the same but then again so much more different than the United States. Our final jeopardy question was to guess our professors age. Throughout the trip everyone has wondered how old she is and today I had the guts to ask her and make it into a question. Bold Josh, bold. Today was the final day of our classes. I have really enjoyed them because we got really in depth with our discussions about Ecuador and it’s Education, Health care, Migration, and Media. Going into Ecuador I had no clue how anything worked but now after 2 weeks of classes, I know fully what Ecuador has to offer to the people.

After class, we had a cooking class. We made some delicious beef, a tomato and onion salad, a really unique drink, a side dish of corn and cheese, and a delicious dessert. We had to cut and clean everything. Very fun experience of what Ecuador’s food is like. About a half an hour after cooking and eating we had a salsa dance class. It was brutal. It was a ton of fun though and oh boy was I sweating again. What a workout dancing can be especially when you’re shaking your butt as much as I was.

Tonight we plan on going out to a dinner with the whole class and our professor to celebrate the end of classes. It should be a lot of fun since I have an awesome group of friends here.

This will probably be my last blog but don’t worry you won’t be missing much. I’m only going to Saraguro tomorrow and then Guayaquil on Monday where it is 90 degrees right now. Hello sun and the ocean. Really looking forward to it. I also have a final project that is due on Monday that consists of my time in Ecuador and how it relates back to class. I will be sure to show you guys it because I plan to throw some humor into it. I’m really looking forward to closing out my time in Ecuador with a bang because I will probably never get this opportunity again.

On top of the world

elvi0268 — Thu, 9 Jan 2014 21:50:00 GMT

Well today was incredible. We went to the beautiful Cajas National Park. We met at the school early, which is a bummer, but I’m so used to getting up at 6:45 now that it doesn’t even bother me. I wish I could get to bed earlier though. I did some homework on the bus but goodness it is hard to type on a bouncy bus. We started out on the low point of the park, 9,000 feet above sea level, where we walked around a gorgeous lake. It was in between the mountains and there was a little gap at the end of the mountains where the breeze came through. My host mama told me to prepare for the cold but the day was so beautiful that I ended up taking off my jacket halfway through the walk. We probably walked for a 45 minutes in and out of the forest. Of course, I forgot to put on sunscreen and was fried by the end of the walk due to being so close to the sun. After the walk we got back to the bus and I loaded up with sunscreen.

We got back on the bus and drove up to the tallest point on the road. We were up 14,000 feet above sea level. We were warned not to run because we could easily get light headed and faint. I wanted to test the boundaries and did a little jog. I lost my breathe within 30 seconds. We took amazing pictures at the top. My theme here in Ecuador while taking pictures has been taking selfies. In Minnesota you see deer crossing signs but here they have llama-crossing signs. I ended up taking some selvies with the llamas.

We then headed down to start the main hike of the day. The hike was absolutely gorgeous. The tallest point we were at was 13,500 feet above sea level and man oh man was it gorgeous. We hiked through a cave, forests, rivers, and swamps. I almost slipped 5 different times because some parts were very muddy and my boots didn’t have the greatest grip but each time the whole group was almost dying of laughter. The best part of the whole hike is where we ate lunch. We could see over 5 lakes and mountains in the background. Words and pictures can’t describe how beautiful it truly was.

Finally... a pick game of Futbol

elvi0268 — Sun, 5 Jan 2014 22:47:00 GMT

Today we got to visit the Incan ruins of Ingapirca. Before we got there though we stopped at a market in Canar. This was by far the biggest market I have ever seen. They had so much fruit and veggies. We are still very hesitant to eat anything though because no one wants to get sick. I can confidentially say that out of 15 people in my class, I’m one of the only ones that hasn’t gotten sick (knock on wood). Not only did they have fruits and veggies but they also had live chickens, guinea pigs, puppies, and rabbits. It was absolutely crazy! There were probably about 70 people that were in two lines and we walked right in between them. They all had sacks that carried the animals in them except for the puppies.. thank god. I was very curious and looked into every sack. It was almost like a party in this market but then I realized this is their life. They sell these things to people that can help out their farms or in the guinea pigs case, eat them.

We then reached the ruins and began our tour with a slight drizzle coming down. The Incas always built in the shapes of animals, which I thought was very fascinating. We took some great photos of everyone in the rain and did a little shopping at the stores they had there. On the way back to Cuenca we stopped at a massive church that was up on the side of a mountain. Someone counted 145 stairs to the top. These were not your normal stairs, these were stairs that went straight up!! Talk about some elevation hitting you. At the top it was so worth it though, such a pretty church and view.

I arrived back home after the long day and was excited to sit down and head to bed early but as soon I walked through the door my host brother asks if I want to play soccer with him tonight with some of his friends. Am I going to say no to that? Absolutely not!! Off I went then to play soccer. It was about 8 at night when we arrived at the field. It was a turf field that had a tall fence all the way around it. I was so jacked to play but also nervous to play with other guys that I don’t even understand. The rain started to come down pretty good but no one cared at all. It was a lot of fun playing with them because not all of them play all the time but they have a passion for the game like me. But I tell ya what, you can really feel the 8,500 foot elevation when you start sprinting around. At the end of the game, it felt like I had lost 10 pounds. I ended up scoring 2 pretty sneaky goals that made them all laugh. I really enjoyed it and plan on doing it again next Sunday.

Humor

elvi0268 — Sat, 4 Jan 2014 16:45:00 GMT

This week in class we have been focusing on identity. One question we were asked was “Who are you?” What a difficult question to answer! To even begin answering this question is to start by stating the labels that we either give ourselves (avowed) or that are given by society (ascribed). It was an interesting exercise to have to make a list of the labels we believe about ourselves. As the class shared one of our more prominent labels or roles, there were several that kept coming up. Obviously we are all students, all sons or daughters, brothers or sisters, and American. As Americans here we get judged a lot. Whenever we got anywhere we are always starred at. We are told not to wear shorts because it will make you a target for the people in Cuenca. Cuenca is very traditional so we always use or manners and try to be as respectful as we can to everyone so the U.S. looks good.

I said my identity is humor. I might have misunderstood what she meant by identity. I said my identity is humor because I can’t go through life without humor. People tend to be so serious all the time and they don’t look at the bright side of life. I like to think humor is my bright side. I like to find the humor in everything because it’s always easy to break down barriers between new people and can’t have humor without a smile on your face.

It’s nice living with my host family because my host mama is absolutely hilarious. The way she acts out things when she knows I can’t understand her is hysterical. I’m sure she wouldn’t identity herself as humorous but I would like to think that we share something in common.

Arriba!!

elvi0268 — Fri, 3 Jan 2014 22:22:00 GMT

It’s Friday!! Today I woke up at my usual 6:45 for 8:30 class and had breakfast with my mom again. She told me that she had been up since 5 on a early morning jog and had already started cooking dinner. She also told me that she uses “lemon” (lime) as deodorant. My mom is very funny with her facial expressions and hand gestures. Since were rarely on the same page with language she does a lot of acting and it’s always very amusing. She was describing to me how people that use spray deodorant are very smelly when they have their arms up in the air. I took the trek to school and had class. After class I went out to lunch with John at el cantaro and then got ice cream. We went to the park and ate our ice cream on a bench. A man named Damien came and sat down right next to us when we didn’t think there was enough room on the bench. That was kind of awkward at first but he turned out to be a really nice guy. We talked a lot about soccer and he even had a family in the U.S. so he knew a little bit of English. We came back to the school and it was dance time!! We danced to merengue and it was awesome!! I was so sweaty and my hips were shaking like no other. It was a great workout and can’t wait to test out my moves tonight. Later on the whole class decided to go out to eat and have a few drinks. It was a ton of fun! It was also very interesting to see how people from Ecuador go about their Friday nights. It was pretty similar to the U.S. except they are a lot more confrontational. We went to a discoteca after dinner, which was a ton of fun!! We took cabs back home and got ready for bed. Tomorrow is our day off!!

I need a bike

elvi0268 — Thu, 2 Jan 2014 22:34:00 GMT

This morning very angry dogs at the neighbors place were my alarm clock. I had breakfast with my momma. She made me eggs and a very nice tea. I have never tried tea before but it was very good. She says that tea is the thing in Ecuador and that it is “muy bien” for you! After breakfast I began my long trek to school. It was a beautiful morning out. Everyone was wearing a light jacket but not me. I looked like the tourist with just a T-shirt on and I’m glad I did. Class started at 8:30 and by the time I got there, I was dripping sweat. Being in high altitude we’re closer to the sun so I was also fried when I got to school as well. Like I said though, it was a beautiful morning. We had about an hour and a half of class and then took taxis to a museum that focused on the artifacts of the indigenous groups in different time periods of Ecuador. It was very interesting to see the differences in the artifacts between the groups and times. We finished up with that a half an hour early and since I was still recovering from my trek, I decided to stay in the centro to have lunch with some friends. I had a delicious meal for only $4! Everything in Cuenca is so cheap. Earlier I had gotten 2 bags of chips, a bottle of water, and a ham sandwich for $3. Back in the U.S. the 2 bags of chips would’ve been $3. We got back to school to take our ID card photos. I made my picture look like a mug shot. We then went to another museum. This museum had life size exhibits of all the indigenous groups in each region of Ecuador. It was very interesting to see especially the houses they lived in because those houses looked like they were crazy to build with so much attention to detail. We also saw some of the Incan ruins that are connected to the museum. There was also a sweet bird rescue center next to the ruins. There were all different types of birds that included parrots and tucans. To top off this very busy day we had a tour of Cuenca. We saw plazas, churches, markets, and different landmarks to help us with directions. When we walked through one of the food markets we saw all different types of vegetables and fruits. The whole place smelt delicious until we got into the raw meat section. The meat looked really good but I can’t imagine buying that when it’s been lying out all day long. We got back to school and I made my sweaty journey back home. Momma made me a delicious meal, we had a conversation through some language and sign language, I did some homework, and then went to bed. Overall it was a long day but I’m very excited to continue my journey through Cuenca.

New Years

elvi0268 — Wed, 1 Jan 2014 22:34:00 GMT

What a wonderful day this was!

Today I was actually able to sleep in… till 10!! Whoop whoop. I started out my day by writing my New Years Eve blog and talking to friends and family. Production at its finest I would say. I chatted with my host mother for a while as she wanted to know what I thought about New Years Eve and how it´s different from the United States. It´s still hard to understand my mom because everything she says is extremely fast and I can´t pick up any of the Spanish. Even with my previous years in Spanish, nothing has come back to me from it. Hopefully it comes back soon. There is a lot of sign language that goes on in the house. It´s a good thing Marcelo is there most of the time so he can be our translator. My mom then had some friends over for tea which was kind of awkward because once again, I didn’t understand them when they tried talking to me. At 3 Marcelo took me into town and showed me where the CEDEI School was and how to get there. It´s about a half an hour walk but is a straight shot to school. This half an hour walk could get old but at least it´s good exercise. When we got to town, the whole entire place was shut down. It was nice to see that even in a different country everything is shut down so everyone can be with their family on New Years. On the walk back I was able to get to know Marcelo a little more and what he likes to do besides what the CEDEI report was on him. He likes music a ton including Korn which made me laugh pretty hard because I was definitely not expecting him to like American music especially Korn! He also taught me a little bit of Spanish. More of the basics but hey whatever helps. We got back and had dinner. A delicious meal with eggs, tuna, rice, and corn. My mom is a fantastic cook but good lord does she give me a ton to eat. After dinner, I went upstairs into my mom’s room since she is the only one that has a TV in the house and watched the “Hunger Games” with Marcelo. It was a very nice relaxing day but I can´t wait to be back at school to see my group of friends and to hear some English again.

New Years Eve

elvi0268 — Wed, 1 Jan 2014 11:36:00 GMT

Today we departed from Riobamba and went to Cuenca. The drive was close to 6 hours long. During this time I tried to write some blogs but when we got up into the mountains, I couldn’t do anything because I was so distracted from the beautiful view. We were basically up in the clouds. The roads were crazy to drive on since we were going up for long time and what seemed like we were doing a bunch of U turns. We passed through some small towns that I thought would be an awesome place to live in because of the gorgeous view. We then arrived to Cuenca and boy did this look like it was going to be a crazy city.

We arrived to the CEDEI and I met my host family. The first thing my mom did was give me a gigantic hug. My mom, Clara, knows very little English but my brother, Marcelo, knows quite a bit of English. We arrived to their house and it was absolutely stunning! They have a beautiful kitchen, living room, and dining room along with an upstairs with all the bedrooms. I was not expecting to see this at all when I thought about my host home. My room is on the main level and I have my own bathroom!! The first thing my mom did when we got home was cooked me a huge meal of chicken, lettuce, and potatoes. It was fantastic. They then asked me if I wanted to go to the other brother’s place for New Years tonight with the whole family. I would have to dress in costume though. Of course I couldn’t say no so I went as Spiderman.

I had no clue what to expect from the night. We got the brother’s house and my jaw dropped. The house was massive! The inside was absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen such a beautiful house before. It was so different from American homes. There were about 25 family members there including about 6 children. I walked in and greeted all the women with a kiss on the cheek and the men with a firm handshake. After I greeted everyone we were all poured a whiskey shot including myself. We said “salude” and took it down. Then another whiskey shot was poured, “Salude”. After about 5 minutes of entering the house I greeted 25 people and had 2 whiskey shots. It was weird greeting everyone because I said, “buenas tardes,” to everyone and they said the same thing back. You only spent a second greeting everyone so that meant you never got the chance to catch anyone’s name. The whole family knew no English so I relied on Marcelo to translate it to me since I know very little Spanish.

More whiskey shots were poured for me and the family. Dinner came around 9:30 and this became very awkward for me. They told me that there was potatoes, another noodle dish that I forgot its name, pollo (chicken), and another meat that I didn’t understand. I went straight for the chicken and potatoes since I knew those were the safe bet. I did put everything on my plate though and tried it all. During dinner, I just went along eating my food and listening to the Spanish conversations going on. I was at the “adult table”. I could tell that the family members were disappointed that I didn’t know Spanish because I’m traveling here to their country. The family told jokes at the table and everyone was laughing having a great time. I could tell the family was talking about me because when someone said something they would laugh and look at me. I didn’t crack a smile or anything, I just kept eating my food pretending to be oblivious to the whole situation. They never asked me questions about my culture or myself. It was very uncomfortable and it was going to be a long night if this continued.

The chicken, potatoes, and the other noodle dish was absolutely delicious. I could not get over the taste of the other meat though. I tried grinding through it and eating it because I assumed it would be rude to not finish it. Another full plate of that meat came out and that’s when I finally realized what it was…. Guinea Pig. It was a fully skinned Guinea Pig on a plate. You should’ve seen my face. I was done with dinner after that. When dinner was done we went outside where the DJ was and danced. They then started karaoke but only the kids sang. It was very cute watching them dance and sing in their costumes. The whole family was very supportive of the little ones and we all applauded them when they were done. When all the little kids were done singing their songs, everyone got dressed up in their costumes. One by one everyone was introduced by his or her costumes including myself in Spiderman. When everyone was introduced, the dancing continued. My dancing partner was very cute 2-year-old girl. We danced for about 20 minutes together while she was laughing and smiling. At this point it felt as though I gained respect from the family. They all took pictures of me and her together and from this point on, the night was excellent. The family was attempting to make conversation with me and then on I was called Minnesota. At 12:00 we collected all of the Manigotes (stuffed dolls), put them on the street and lite them on fire. We “saluded” again with another whiskey shot. The streets were covered with fires from burning Manigotes and the sky was lite with fireworks. Everyone was running around with such joy and with so much energy.

Tonight was an experience that I will probably never be apart of again. When I was saying my goodbyes, the family was very loving to me telling me that I was a great dancer and that I’m a nice boy. In the end the night started out kind of rough in part to me probably not being myself but ended with one of the uncles telling me in front of everyone that, “I was the shit.”

Otavalo

elvi0268 — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 21:35:00 GMT

Otavalo, Ecuador

Our first stop in Ecuador was in Otavalo. After breakfast and our first orientation we started to cruise the city. The first thing the group went to was the market. The market was absolutely crazy!! People were everywhere screaming Spanish, assuming it was the price or what they were selling. I got approached several times asking to buy a belt. “No gracias” I would say. The market was packed with people and little stands selling anything and everything. Shoes, hats, jewelry, belts, watches, and sweaters were all being sold. They had everything. Sometimes it got very uncomfortable being in the mosh pit though because it was very crowded and everyone was bumping into everyone. I noticed that every time I got bumped or bumped into someone I was saying, excuse me and excuse me but no one said anything back. It was like they were used to it or it just truly didn’t bother them that much. I kept walking around some more and walked into the food market. I actually thought the whole thing looked beautiful. All of the colors of the food and the smell were spectacular. It was too bad we weren’t able to eat any of it because we would’ve gotten sick because I would’ve had a field day in there. When I was walking to the estadio, I noticed a guy had a huge bag. He pulled out 4 little puppies and was trying to sell them. I couldn’t believe it that someone would actually put puppies in a bag but then realized I’m not in the U.S. anymore… this is their culture. When I arrived to the estadio I was deeply saddened since it was all torn up for renovations. That was a big bummer.

That feeling was quickly erased though when we went to Cotacachi. I did a hike with the group and after 10 steps, I was quickly out of breath. Not in Minnesota anymore, quickly realized that I was about 10,300 feet above sea level. 2 miles!!! When I got to the top of the hill, the view was unbelievable. Pictures couldn’t even explain how beautiful it was. I could sit on a lawn chair and stare at it all day. I got a couple of great pictures of it and hiked back down.

Overall the day was spectacular. It was eye opening how different Ecuador’s culture is from the United States and it was only my first day! I really look forward to the rest of the trip and can’t wait to see some soccer stuff.

Pre-Depature Blog

elvi0268 — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 12:35:00 GMT

Blog #1

#1. Culture is a particular society that has it’s own beliefs, ways of life, and art.

#2. In the United States we have a tradition that you can be whatever and whoever you want to be. We are taught to follow our dreams and that nothing can ever stop you. Another tradition we have is everyone goes to church on Sundays. Sundays also are usually days when everyone watches football. Something we value is family. We mostly always have holidays with our families and even birthdays.

#3. Some assumptions I have of Ecuador is that they will be obsessed with soccer or futbol. This assumption comes from being that soccer is the number one sport in the world and usually South America is one of the biggest continents to love soccer. I also belief, that Ecuador with have a lot of plantation with a lot of homes growing corn, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables. This assumption comes from knowing that Ecuador with have warm weather all year round and also knowing that Ecuador’s poverty is quite high.

#4. I chose to look into the food in Ecuador. The top things that Ecuador exports is oil, bananas, flowers, shrimp, and cow. A lot of families grow fruits and vegetables and sell them in markets or even in the bottom level of their houses. Most vegetables include corn, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and broccoli. There will also be the same with fruits. Bananas, lemons, limes, pineapple, watermelon, apples, mangos, and strawberries are all sold around in Ecuador in markets. Plenty of meats are ate in Ecuador too. Cows are used for steak and the same for chickens used for chicken. Ecuador is known for it’s famous dish of Guinea pig though. Don’t know if I will be trying that.