Visiting Cajas National Park was such an amazing experience today. It will probably end up being my favorite day out of this whole trip. The views were absolutely breathtaking. For the majority of our hike, there were no roads or phone lines to be seen. The park was dripping with natural beauty. I saw many different types of flowers, trees, and birds I have never seen before. My favorite part of the hike was probably when we had the opportunity to stop for a lunch break. During our lunch break, I really took in everything around me; all of the forests, lagoons, and mountains. I am also surprised that the altitude didn’t have a larger affect on me. Being about 12,000 feet above sea level, I assumed I would have been much more tired. By living in Cuenca, I must be getting used to the altitude. Our first hike of the day was about a mile long, and our second hike of the day was a little less than four miles. Someday, I would love to be able to explore all of Cajas.
Yesterday, we got to visit a CEDEI grade school. This school is a private school, but it does not conform to the other Catholic private schools in Cuenca. CEDEI is much more focused on self-expression: language, art, and theater. All of the students start to learn English at a very young age. By the age of about 14, the students can be considered proficient in English. This is a really big aspect in their school, since knowing English, and other languages, is such a large part globalization. The 9th grade students are also on par with the 9th grade students in the United States. This surprised me, because I assumed that the Ecuador schools might be a few grades behind us. The school also stressed the number of books that they own not only in Spanish, but also in English. In Ecuador, many people do not read for pleasure, causing libraries not to be easily found. This school also had a computer lab, which is not common in Ecuador. Although the computers were not new, they do the purpose. The class sizes were also very small. The largest class was about 23 while the smallest was only 9. The class days are also very different compared to the schools in the United States. School usually starts around 7 and goes until 1. This helps the family setting, because the kids can go home and eat lunch with their family, since it is the biggest meal of the day. At this school, special needs students also felt very safe. In Ecuador, many are bullied right out of public school. But at CEDEI, special needs students get along with all the other students really well. They also get more one on one time with teachers to ensure success. The only downfall I saw at this school is that it has a very low teacher retention rate. This is because many of the teachers are from out of the country. They come to Ecuador for just a short time to teach.
On Wednesday, I also had the opportunity to witness a shaman perform a traditional healing ceremony. This was very interesting to see because I have never even heard of this practice before I came to Ecuador. The shaman would rub an egg on a person’s body, crack it in a glass of water, and then examine it. From looking at the egg he could tell what was wrong with the person. I am not sure if I fully believe this type of practice, but I have read that a lot of people see positive results from it.
While my time in Ecuador is quickly coming to an end, I am starting to reflect even more on what I have experienced. I am very thankful to have had to opportunity to visit all of the cities I was in. Each city showed me a different aspect of the Ecuadorian culture. I am now able to better appreciate the differences that different cultures hold and better understand what makes them different. From this trip I have learned that just because something is different, doesn’t mean that it is bad or wrong. I will go back to the United States with a better appreciation for diversity and culture within my own society.
