Today was a rather relaxing day, but very eventful for my thoughts and views on some of the differences between my culture and the culture of Ecuador. We woke up early to take a day trip to the Ingapirca Ruins, which was extremely fascinating. Before arriving at the ruins though, we stopped at another Indigenous market. This particular market was full of fruits, vegetables, meats, and live animals. There were chickens, guinea pigs, dogs, and cats (not all for eating.) It was extremely crowded in the live animal part, and I felt a bit of culture shock for the first time on this trip. I have always considered myself very open-minded, but I was surprised to find myself almost looking at these people in a negative way just because I felt uncomfortable in this new situation. The society I grew up on has created a stereotype that markets like these are full of poor, uneducated, and sometimes uncivilized people. I can infer that this isn’t true when I think about this particular market for a few different reasons.
1) At first glance, the market is full of dirty animals and lots of people. When you look a little more carefully though, these people are dressed in beautiful traditional clothes and often are at the markets with their entire family. How many of us Americans can say that our parents and grandparents get to work, AND spend time with their family? The majority of American families only see each other at night and maybe weekends. As for the dirty animals? In the United States, we usually don’t see where our meat comes from other than the grocery store. Yes, it may be a beautiful local farm, but a lot of our meat does come from factory farms that contain far worse conditions than a chicken who lived its life in the backyard of an Ecuadorian house, completely natural.
2) Who am I to decide what a good lifestyle is and what is a bad one? These people seem happy. They are kind, polite, and are spending their day outside interacting with people face-to-face rather than sitting at a computer or on a phone or watching television. According to countless studies and American stereotypes, this lifestyle of being outside and less social media use is one that is beneficial to our health. Yet, how many Americans that say something like, “I wish I could spend more time with my family, more time outside, and less time sitting at a desk,” would accept and embrace this lifestyle of these Indigenous groups? Probably not very many.
As I think about my experience so far here in Ecuador, I think one of the overlying themes I have encountered is “don’t judge a book by its cover.” My favorite part of my time spent here is the houses. They are gated off, and by American standards, look unsafe, beaten down, or unlivable. But, open the gate and you might see a nice car, a beautiful garden, and a gorgeous front door. Step inside that door, and (in my particular home) you find a beautifully decorated sitting room and a huge Christmas tree, a small, but practical kitchen, a gorgeous sunroom filled with plants and flowers, a wide, winding staircase that leads to a family centered set of bedrooms, a scattering of toys that represents a child that lives here, and more hanging plants and flowers beneath a huge glass ceiling to let in sunlight. All of this is located behind a huge, tall black gate and walls that have graffiti on them.
This has been an eye-opening day for me. As I conclude this blog, I can’t help but feel excited to find out what else I may encounter on this experience. But first, I’m going to enjoy this nice cup of tea that my host-mom made me to help combat the horrific cold I have come down with.
