Intercultural Communication In Ecuador

Education in Ecuador

lachowiezm — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 09:32:00 GMT

Today in class we discussed the impact of cultural differences on education in Ecuador. I liked that through this discussion we were able to apply many of the things we saw at the CEDEI school we visited on Wednesday. The school has grades preschool through 9th grade. It is a private school, however it is seen as an alternative school because most private schools focus on religious education. CEDEI is a bilingual school teaching students both Spanish and English and also starts French in 3rd grade. There are about 160 students in the school with 30 teachers with class sizes typically around 17. This is very different then a public school which typically has only 22 teachers and 460 students. English education starts in preschool which provides exposure to the language early on in a child's education.

There are many problems with the education system in Ecuador, so I was so glad to see schools like this are available to students to provide a fantastic education. In class today we discussed how worldwide, only 10% of the population attends school. In Ecuador, there is a 95% enrollment for students aged 6-14, however by the time the students reach 5th grade there is a 20% dropout rate. There are over 430,000 working children in Ecuador. I was upset to know that many students are not getting the education they should be, and by Ecuadorian law, are guaranteed. Ecuador provides students with 10 free years of schooling starting in preschool, however not all groups of people have the same access to education. Many factors can contribute to this like a far distance from the school increasing the prices of transportation, not having a birth certificate which makes the registration process very difficult, and lack of family support. For instance, indigenous students under the age of 14 on average only complete four years of schooling. Afro-Ecuadorian students in the same age group only complete six years of schooling on average. The national average is eight years of primary education which is still below the governmentally mandated and provided 10 years of school.

It is unfortunate that not all students have the same access to education as they all deserve. For instance, many public schools do not have special education programs, so when a disabled student is enrolled in school they are often times bullied and do not get the additional help they need from teachers. This broke my heart to hear because my brother is autistic and I can't imagine what his school career would be like if he did not have the fantastic support our school system at home provides. This was also one of the things the CEDEI school seemed to pride itself on. Our tour guide Lorie told us about the 18-20 students with disabilities at the school and how they were able to support them not only in a normal classroom but with additional help in the special education department as well. Individualized plans are done every three months in comparison to once a year in the United States. Not only do students with special needs benefit from the additional help, but the other students in the classes benefit from this system because exposure to those that are different then us breeds tolerance. This was another wonderful thing about the school. Since there were so many international teachers, the students are very accepting to those that are different than them. Lorie described how the school did not have any major social issues like bullying or fighting that many of the public schools.

While I think a great deal of reform is needed to improve the public education system in Ecuador and provide it to more people that currently do not have access to schools, I am so glad to see that schools like CEDEI are passionate about providing the best education possible to their students.

Cajas National Park

lachowiezm — Thu, 9 Jan 2014 03:56:00 GMT

There is no other way to describe my time at Cajas National Park other then surreal. Cajas National Park is the smallest of 10 national parks in Ecuador, but is one of the best maintained next to the Galapagos Islands. We learned that 60% of the water Cuenca uses comes from Cajas traveling down the Tomebamba River. There are many water reservoirs like lakes and marshes in Cajas supplying water that flows down many rivers. Much of the ground in this Natural Park acts like a sponge absorbing large amounts of water. Moss and lichen flourish in this environment due to the large amounts of water present. Our guide pointed out to us a few of the invasive species Cajas has had problems with including Eucalyptus, which was introduced in 1860, and Pine trees, which were introduced in 1925. These were introduced at one point in time for lumber for human use but now cause a problem of absorbing too much water and out competing native species. Cajas also has a problem with rainbow in the lakes killing and out competing native marine species. Because of this, the national park allows fly fishing in an effort to keep populations down. One of the lakes with this problem was where we took our first hike.

Today we hiked for a total of about four hours on two different trails. Our first hike was on a trail around a lake at about 9480 feet above sea level. I could definitely tell that my body has been acclimating to the altitude because I had a much easier time hiking today than I did two weeks ago when we visited ecological reserve Cuicocha. While most of this trail was flat, we were able to see different landscapes as we allowed our body to get used to movement at a higher altitude before we went up higher for our more difficult hike. We hiked through the forest that is believed to be about 500 years old. A tree had fallen across the path so we had to climb through the forest to continue on. When we came out of the forest we walked through a valley with a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding us. Our guide showed us many different plants like the Bromeliad, a plant in the same family as the pineapple. He also showed us many plants that have medicinal purposes like the Pidgin Flower which is good for stomach ailments as well as Valerian, what Valium is made from, which helps with sleep. We also hiked past the abandoned Cerveza Azuaya brewery that was the first brewery in Azuay but shut down in 1922.

After our first hike we visited the "Tres Cruces" continental divide. This was the highest point we were at during the day at 12480 feet above sea level. This divide was the area at which any water that falls flows east over the mountains makes its way to the Atlantic Ocean, and any that flows west over the mountains ultimately makes its way to the pacific ocean. The view here, along with most of the drive was absolutely breathtaking.

The second hike was at an elevation of 11880 feet above sea level. We split into smaller groups for this hike because it was much more rigorous then the first hike. My group had nine people in it including our instructor Dr. Leonardi and our mountain guide. The scenery on our second hike was absolutely amazing. Not often in this world do we see such pristine environments undisturbed by mankind. We hiked through a forest of Paper Trees that I cannot describe in any other way but magical. We sat on top of a mountain enjoying a 360 degree panoramic view of the mountains around us. We trekked though streams, over rocks, and up and down the side of a mountain just taking in everything this country has to offer us. It is an amazing feeling to be able to take a step back and appreciate the environment around you. It is a humbling experience to feel so small and realize the great magnitude nature has around you. This hike at Cajas National Park was by far one of my favorite days here in Ecuador.

Migration's Effect on Ecuador

lachowiezm — Wed, 8 Jan 2014 12:41:00 GMT

Wile discussing the economy of Ecuador, one of the things I was surprised to learn was that one of the largest exports of the country is people. We learned that 10-15% of Ecuador's population migrates to find work outside of the country. After hearing this startling statistic I was excited to do more research for my facilitation project and to learn more about the causes and history of these high migration rates. We found that the highest immigration rates were in the late 1990s when the financial crisis hit. Poverty was as high as 56% and unemployment rose to 15%. Between the years of 1998 and 2004 500,000 Ecuadorians migrated out of the country mainly to Spain. Even today migration rates are still very high especially those to the United States. Many immigrants choose to settle in New York City where many immigrants live as well as various parts of Europe including Spain and Italy.

Last week in class we had a speaker who was the daughter of migrant parents speak to us about the effects migration has on children. She described to us how the migration of one or both parents really tears apart a family and is very detrimental to children here in Ecuador due to the strong emphasis placed on family. Children go through many emotional difficulties like sadness, depression and angst as well as having social problems and difficulties expressing affection. Since children are often separated from one or both parents for long periods of time, they experience a lack of love from their parents resulting in fear, taking on responsibility of their parents actions themselves, and concentration problems in school. They often times have difficulty creating interpersonal relationships, exhibit aggressive behavior, and display behavior problems in school. While I can see the reasons why many parents choose to leave the country in order to support their families, it made me so upset to hear all of these effects the action of migrating has on children. I was glad to hear however, schools are now beginning to integrate an educative psychology program that focuses on diagnosing children going through the phases of dealing with migrating parents as well as offering therapy and support. The programs allow for open channels of communication between the school as well as the family that is still in Ecuador in order to provide the children with the best support possible.

Another aspect of migration I really enjoyed learning about in class today was the formation of cooperatives by many of the indigenous women that are left behind by their husbands. I think it is so empowering that women are able to form these organizations in order to provide support to one another as well as themselves financially. We discussed three cooperative groups in class today. The Centro de Barados is known for their embroidery work. The often times sell embroydered goods like shirts, table cloths, and cards. The Tejemujeres are famous for their wool sweater that are mostly exported to Canada and Europe. Finally, we discusses the Tejedoras de Paja Toquilla who mostly craft straw objects like placemats, hats, and baskets. I believe I saw some of these items when shopping at one of the markets in Cuenca. Such beautiful objects can be created by weaving straw, especially when they are died in many beautiful colors. I love the idea of women forming these cooperatives because it not only gives them an additional source of income, but they provide workshops so women can better their lives. For instance, women are taught about running a small business so they can successfully work with the cooperatives as well as information about personal finances so they can apply that to their lives. They are also taught about their rights to health care as well as nutrition. While the thought of Ecuadorians immigrating and breaking up their families saddens me, I was really glad to hear about the several programs in place to provide support to family members in order to help make this difficult time easier.

Ecuadorian Health Care: A combination of Holistic and Biomedical Techniques

lachowiezm — Tue, 7 Jan 2014 11:44:00 GMT

Our focus today was Ecuadorian medicine and health care. We discussed medicine in such a way that cultural patterns have an impact on health care. There are three belief systems surrounding medicine. The first view is the Magico Religious viewpoint that believes external supernatural forces impact health that cannot be prevented or controlled. The Holistic/Natural viewpoint looks at one's relationship with nature and focuses on the mind, body, and spirit when healing. Finally, there is the viewpoint that I, along with most other Americans, are most familiar with which is the Western or Biomedical viewpoint. This is the idea of controlling health through biomedical forces like chemicals and medicines. While it is impossible to say which view is better than another, there are advantages to disadvantages with every viewpoint. For instance, the Magico Religious view promotes positive thoughts and the idea of "mind over matter" when it comes to health. However, not all diseases are self limiting and have the potential for harmful complications if not treated. The holistic and natural viewpoint has the benefits of not introducing chemicals into the body, but rather using more natural substances. However, these treatments may not be as effective as those used in western medicine. Finally, the biomedical viewpoint has strong advantages due to the scientific research showing its effectiveness. Although, with an increased use of chemicals for treatment of sickness comes negative of people self medicating as well as self diagnosing illnesses. An increased prevalence of prescription drug addiction is also being seen in the United States.

The holistic view of medicine is catching on in the United States which I think people could greatly benefit from. I believe that often times prescription drugs are abused and prescribed far too often when they really don't need to. For instance, when someone goes to the doctor with a really bad cold, it is not uncommon for someone to be prescribed an antibiotic. Unless there is another problem like infection going on, colds are caused by viruses and an antibiotic will not help treat the illness any faster. I believe we as a society have become obsessed with the idea that when we're sick we go to the doctor and expect to be prescribed something when really sometimes it is best to let the body run its course and take of it. That being said, there are of course situations in which medical intervention is needed. I believe so far I have kept an open mind about all of Ecuador's belief systems and values, but when it comes to health care I struggle. Coming from such a western society that values biomedical remedies for almost all ailments along with a scientific cause of disease, I struggle with the idea that people believe illness can be caused by evil spirits or spirits of inanimate objects as described by the belief of Animism. Although I was glad to hear that often times in hospitals in this area offer a great respect for people's traditions by offering a combination of holistic and western medicine working in conjunction together. I believe this is a happy medium between offering natural remedies but still having access to biomedical techniques when absolutely necessary.

This idea of the combination of traditional and western medicine was something that came up during our tour of Centro de Salud No. 4. There are four levels of hospitals in Ecuador and this is the lowest level of treatment. This means that mostly consultations are done at this hospital along with pediatric and family health are done at the hospital. No major surgeries are performed however small surgeries like those to treat hernias are performed. Many births also happen at this hospital although they do not have the ability to perform cesarean sections. The director of hospital gave us our tour and told us how doctors practicing traditional healing methods as well as more western doctors work at the hospital. The hospital has a pharmacy with biomedical remedies however the traditional doctors offer natural remedies as well. The idea of the combination of medical viewpoints was very prevalent when we visited the labor and delivery room. Many of the patients at this hospital are from more rural areas and prefer home deliveries, so the hospital designed rooms where patients can deliver their baby however they want and with whoever they want with them. They are always watched over by medical personnel to ensure their safety as well as that of their baby. This allows for their comfort as well as their health and safety. This idea of natural childbirth is catching on in the United States as well. Many women are opting to have as natural of a birth as possible often times with midwives and without the use of medications.

While at the hospital I also learned that Centro de Salud No. 4 is a governmentally funded hospital so all health services and medications are provided free of charge to patients. I thought this was so great because it allows many more people access to health care when they might otherwise not be able to due to a high cost. This is a problem we face in the United States, due to the high cost of health care and insurance many Americans are not receiving the health care they need. According to NBC news, between January and July in 2013 45.2 million people lacked health insurance. This continues to be a problem in Ecuador as well. While both of our countries have a long way to go in providing coverage to everyone, we are both headed in the right direction.

Media in Ecuador

lachowiezm — Mon, 6 Jan 2014 11:43:00 GMT

Today our discussions in class focused on Ecuador's media and the role media plays in our perceptions. Many of the places from which we get our ideas of cultures different from our own is rooted in the media. For example, many of the assumptions we came into this country with came from TV shows, tourist information as well as different publications and newspapers. These ideas come from an ideology: a set of ideas structuring world views of a group of people. One of the things about the production of media that I found interesting was the idea of agenda setting. John G. Oetzel describes the way media tells about what to think about. Since there is such a monopoly in the United States of who decides what messages are displayed, a skewed perception of culture is produced which unfortunately, marginalizes minority groups who are underrepresented in media. This is especially true in Ecuador due to the governmental control over media messages. In 2013 a media law was passed that limits the freedom of speech and messages that are displayed. This bill that was passed limits privately owned media outlets as well as the messages sent to governmentally approved messages.

After this class discussion we visited the Unisón TV station, the second largest in Cuenca. It is a nongovernment owned Christian TV station. The tour guide at the studio made a big point of stating they were not owned by the government because they are proud to be an independent station in a time with tighter governmental regulations on the media. While at the station we had a tour of the studio where programs are actually filmed. We got to see a cooking show in progress and even be on Ecuadorian TV for a few seconds! We also saw the sets used for the news and sports as well as set for talk shows and interviews. Most shows for this station are filmed live, however some are prerecorded and edited together. We saw the area where the editors and producers worked to create the different TV programming as well as the control room and sound room. The control room is where the different camera views are selected as well as overall direction of the programming. The sound room is used to regulate the sound and music used in programming and becomes especially important when musicians are featured on TV to make sure the sound of their music is clear and sounds the way it is supposed to. Visiting the TV station was such a neat experience. Tomorrow we are learning about the health care system of Ecuador which I am so excited for because that is the field I want to go into.

Ziplining, Cañar, and Ingapirca - Oh My!

lachowiezm — Sun, 5 Jan 2014 14:12:00 GMT

This has been such a busy weekend! Yesterday morning we went zip lining just outside of Cuenca. There were seven different lines that we did, three being over a very large valley in the mountains. It was by far one of the most amazing things I have ever done. After zip lining we had lunch in downtown Cuenca before heading to Piedra de Agua,the baños, or hotsprings, outside of Cuenca. To be honest, we were really disappointed in the baths because it was basically just a few hot tubs and a steam room and wasn't anything all that fantastic. While we weren't too impressed, at least we got to relax for a bit in the afternoon. One of the things I notice whenever we drive around and that continues to surprise me is the large amount of people, including young children, that ride around in the back of pickup trucks. It just makes me so nervous because it is not safe and something you don't see often in the United States. I also still have not gotten used to the amount of stray dogs that roam the cities. I'm just so used to being in a society where pets are part of the family whereas here dogs are just another animal. Its definitely a different mindset and a different way of life here.

Early this morning we departed for the Ingapirca Incan ruins. On the way we stopped at the Cañar Market. I was assuming the market would be similar to Otavalo's where many goods were being sold, but this market was mainly for the purchase of fresh food. We mostly saw Cañar women in the market many of which wore the traditional Cañar outfit of skirts and blouses with a waterproof while felt hat. The women are known for preserving the traditional dress of their culture whereas men often dress more modernly. We walked around and saw many vendors selling fresh fruits and vegetables as well different cuts of meat. Our tour guide told us that there are 3,000 varieties of potatoes in South America, 52 of which are found in Ecuador. I wonder how many of these could be found at this market! We also saw a vendor that was selling herbs for medicinal purposes like lemon grass and chamomile. The whole market smelled so good I just wanted to buy all the fruit that was in it! A section of the market also had live animals for sale where people can purchase them with cash or they can trade animals. The animals being sold were mainly done so for food. For instance we mostly saw chickens and guinea pigs along with some rabbits. It's interesting to think that most of these animals were introduced by Europeans because guinea pig, deer, and bears were the main sources of food that used to be hunted before Europeans arrived in South America. Puppies were also being sold but those were mainly to serve as watch dogs. While it was sad seeing all these small fuzzy animals that will probably be eaten soon, it was very interesting to see how people in this community get their food. I overheard two women arguing over the price of a guinea pig, the one wanted $5 for it and the other woman thought this was far too much money. It was so fascinating to watch how people interact in those types of scenarios. I also loved the wide variety of fresh produce available. This is something we don't have available to us in the United States. I would love to be able to go to a market of this proportion every Sunday to purchase such fresh produce.

After going to the market we made our way north to the Ingapirca Incan ruins. It was raining a bit on and off during the day, but this is to be expected as rainy season is starting now. These ruins are the most important archeological site in Ecuador. We took a tour around the ruins where our tour guide told us about the remains of each of the buildings. Our tour began with an explanation of how these ruins are in the shape of a jaguar, one of the most important animals to the Incan people. All of the complexes constructed by the Incas were in the shape of animals that were important to their culture. We then proceeded to walk around the ruins where we saw the Temple of the Moon. This was the only temple in South America to have a kitchen attached to it. This leads archeologists to believe this may have been a house that was later made into a temple. In the center of a temple was a large stone signifying a grave of a woman. This also was unusual because marked graves typically belong to men so it was believed that this woman was a priestess or in some position of power. Several skeletons were found in this grave in the fetal position with their faces pointing east to the rising sun and their backs to the west where the sun sets along with several ceramic pieces containing food. People were buried in the fetal position due to the belief that they would be reborn but it was a long journey so they need food with them. After the Temple of the Moon we made our way to the Temple of the Sun. On the way we saw a stone in the shape of a "U" that served as a corner stone in a building at one point in time. We also saw large stones with holes drilled into them where water would fill in and represented the planetary alignment and positions in the universe. The Incas had an elaborate aqueduct system that they learned from the Nasca people. 37 kilometers of aqueducts run through and surround Ingapirca The Temple of the Sun was also an unusual temple because it contained two rooms when Incan temples typically only contained one. The temple is also unusual because it is built in a ellipse shape as compared to a circular or oval shape that temples were often built in. After taking a million pictures we had lunches that our host families packed for us and looked at all the items the vendors were selling near the archeological site.

On our way home from the Incan ruins, we stopped at a church called The Lady of the Morning Dew. It was a gorgeous church built into the side of a mountain and made out of limestone. It was a long hike up many stairs in the rain, but the church was beautiful on the inside so it was totally worth it. Our tour guide told us that we are supposed to make a wish upon visiting the church which we all did shortly before running back to the bus to avoid the rain! Tomorrow we are learning more about media in Ecuador and visiting a TV studio so that should be super interesting to see what is similar and different from the way our media portrays things.

Class Connections

lachowiezm — Fri, 3 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMT

Today was our second day of class, and I have to say I love having a daily routine here in Cuenca. Our host family's home is only a 15 minute walk from the CEDEI school so it is very easy to go back and forth from the school. I really enjoyed our orientation part of the trip so far so I'm really excited to see if I like the classes at CEDEI as much. The language barrier with the family was a little difficult at first, but the family is so nice (and the kids speak English) so it hasn't been a super difficult transition. Although I do think I ate something strange on New Year's Eve because I was sick for a good part of the day on the first. Now that I am feeling a million times better, I do not feel as though I am in the "crisis" stage of culture shock anymore and am growing to like my time here more and more.

In class today we continued our discussion on identity and talked a bit about the economy. One of the main ideas that came up in our discussions was the idea of power, and that when one group of people gains power and becomes dominant, it marginalizes smaller groups of people. This is something that has happened to the indigenous people of Ecuador. I noticed this especially when we visited the Mindala Workshop last week. The man giving us the tour discussed with us that the government will not fund museums for indigenous people. He showed us several pottery examples, some that were thousands of years old. I was sad to see that the divide between indigenous Ecuadorians and those of a more Spanish decent still exists. This was also prevalent at the equator. This is another site that does not receive funding from the government.

We also talked a great deal about identify in class. We discussed how identity is dynamic and is capable of changing over time. One thing we have noticed especially with our host families' older generations is that the mom is in charge of all of the cooking and house work. The gender roles have been socially constructed dictating what women are responsible for doing. However, I have also noticed that in this newer younger generation more and more women are joining the workforce and having a career outside of being a homemaker. For instance, one of the cousins in our host family is studying to become a doctor, which was not nearly as common a few generations ago.

When we visited the La Capilla del Hombre museum in Quito last week, I also noticed a great deal about Identity there. While there were many identities represented at this museum, they all had the underlining theme of giving a voice to the marginalized groups of people all over the world. Most of the pictures represented people with dark colors, skeletal like features with large heads and very slender sickly bodies, as well as facial features that ranged from depressed to struggling. It was really interesting to see how these concepts we talked about in class connected to things we have already seen on our trip so far as well as the different opinions our class has. Tomorrow will be another bit more touristy day as we are going ziplining and to the baños. I am so excited to see what those will be like, so hopefully it will be a Saturday well spent!

Happy New Year!

lachowiezm — Wed, 1 Jan 2014 02:30:00 GMT

After a long trip to Cuenca from Riobamba, Jenny and I finally got our host family yesterday afternoon. Our host mother is Sandra, a business woman, the host brother name Andrés who is 23, and a host sister Dominica who is 12. The family is very nice and was very excited to welcome us into their home. After we unpacked all of our luggage, Andrés and his best friend also named Andrés showed us around the city. They showed us the new and old cathedral as well as some of the restaurants, coffee shops, and ice cream stores. It was awesome to be able to walk around the city with people who know it well. We walked around for 2 hours or so, but after a long day of traveling we were exhausted. We decided to go back to the house to relax before the new year's celebrations.

Our host mother's father was having all of the family over for dinner and the new year's party. It reminded me of a holiday dinner here because a big dinner was served and all of the family was very happy to be together. I was very nervous going into the dinner because of the language barrier, but the family was very understanding and patient with me. Jenny was able to translate most of what was said so I could still communicate with the family. May of the cousins of our host brother were able to speak English so I could speak with them also. At the party we had a delicious dinner of ham, turkey, rice, and potatoes. We had bunuelos for dessert, which is a dough ball that was covered in a sweet topping made of naranjilla and brown sugar. I was taken aback by how sweet this desert was because the dough ball essentially acted like a sponge soaking up all of the sugary topping.

After dinner we lit off fireworks with the family before the burning of the monigotes. It is tradition on new years eve to construct a life size doll and burn it to represent last year and to give good luck for the coming year. During the day we saw several people with these dolls tied to their cars. It was fascinating to see this tradition because it is so different from what we have in the United States. Everyone celebrated this way though, because we saw many monigotes burning on the way home.

Another tradition our host brother explained to us, was how men dress up as the widow of the monigote that was burned on new year's eve and block off roads collecting money. We saw this at least six times on our drive to Cuenca. The men were wearing scary masks and held a rope across the road blocking traffic in an effort to collect change from the drivers. I was very confused at first but after having the tradition explained it made more sense.

Everyone in the family was given 12 grapes as part of a tradition of celebrating the new year. You are supposed to make a wish on each grape and eat them as the clock chimes as it hits midnight. It was impossible to keep up with the clock without choking on grapes, but it was fun to make all the wishes and watch everyone eat grapes as fast as they can! Tomorrow is new years day, and Jenny and I plan on sleeping and relaxing after traveling so much the past few days. Our first day in Cuenca was enjoyable and I can' wait to see what else we will see while we're here!

Quito!

lachowiezm — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 14:14:00 GMT

This morning we departed Otavalo to visit Quito, the capital of Ecuador. About an hour into our drive to Quito at the Equator line known as the "Middle of the Earth" where we were all able to take pictures standing in both hemispheres. A guide taught us about the geography of the area and how the Andes are such a good area to study astronomy due to the ability to see the starts of both hemispheres. This is much different than our view in the United States because we are only capable of seeing stars of the northern hemisphere.

After our stop, we continued on for an hour and a half to the city of Quito. We stopped at the museum "La Capilla del Hombre" displaying the works of Oswaldo Guayasamin. Many of his works display the pain in suffering of people not only in Latin American countries, but in areas all over the world. His passion for documenting the social injustice done to people by other humans was very clear when visiting this museum. However, a large number of works also showed hope for humanity and the progress that society was making. It was very interesting to see these works and learn the stories behind them, however unfortunately, the guided tour was in Spanish. Our tour guide from CEDEI was able to translate most of it, however it was a bit frustrating trying to quickly take notes from the translation. After our tour of the museum we stopped at the mall for lunch where again, I was able to struggle my way through ordering my sandwich. It was an awesome feeling knowing I am capable of ordering food for myself and communicating with the restaurant workers at a basic level.

After lunch we went on a walking tour of old town Quito. One of our first stops was at the Basilica which was one of my favorite parts of the tour. The architecture was absolutely gorgeous as was the stained glass on the interior. I also found it fascinating that in place of gargoyles animals, especially those found in the rainforest, were depicted on top of the church. We also stopped at the Compañia de Jesus which was another beautiful church that had an interior that was almost completely covered in gold leaf. This one was also gorgeous, but was decorated in a very different style inside. It was very colorful with many statues of Saints on the interior. While walking through old town Quito so many unique colorful buildings were seen. I absolutely loved so many of the buildings because of the bright colors and the white trim. A Spanish influence could definitely be seen in a lot of the architecture. Our tour ended with a trip to the statue of Mary on the mountain overlooking the city of Quito. The view from the top was simply breathtaking. After a long day of exploring, we arrived at Hotel Quito where we are spending the night. We stuck close to the hotel for dinner, which resulted in eating a cheeseburger, but I didn't mind since we're having a traditionally prepared lunch tomorrow in Riobamba. I'm very excited to see what this new city brings!

Adventures in Otavalo

lachowiezm — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 22:11:00 GMT

On Saturdays, virtually all of Otavalo turns into an open air market, but we spent most of our morning exploring the Plaza de los Ponchos. Two other students and I set out determined to find an alpaca wool scarf. This inevitably turned into purchasing three scarves, an alpaca wool blanket, several weaved bracelets, a shot glass, and a picture frame. Going into this trip I had absolutely no confidence in my Spanish speaking abilities. I have had virtually no practice with it in the past, and while I did take three years of it in high school, I was never very good at it. However, to my surprise, a great deal of understanding the language did come back. I was able to understand a small portion of what was said and I was able successfully barter with many of the vendors to get very good prices on the items that I purchased. I was able to purchase a thick alpaca wool scarf for $10 and a blanket of the same material for $15. I was so excited about this, because I would have paid a considerable amount more had the purchases been in the United States. We had so much fun bartering with the vendors in the morning because they were very patient and eager to talk to us. You could tell they were excited to see tourists and tried their hardest to sell us all of their products. We had lunch at a little cafe in a courtyard where the three of us not Spanish speaking students struggled our way through ordering lunch. I ended up eating some sort of pizza that had olives on it. After lunch we headed back to the hotel to meet the group to head to our afternoon activities.

Our early afternoon was spent at Cuicocha. This was a beautiful ecological reserve where we were able to hike to a spot that overlooked the lake with an Island in the middle of it. Some of the group took a boat ride around the Island, while I went with the hiking group. We only hiked for about an hour, but at an elevation of 10,353 feet it was utterly exhausting. There were several steep stair cases and paths, however the view at the top was definitely worth it. The view was absolutely spectacular. Not only were we able to overlook the lake and surrounding mountainous area, but we were able to get a good view of the neighboring volcano.

After our hike, we visited a Mindala Workshop where we had an explanation of weaving techniques as well as a little cultural information about the various areas of Ecuador. It was very interesting to see the technique by which weavings are made considering we had seen many like them in the market earlier in the morning. We also got to see many pieces of ancient pottery that indigenous Ecuadorians used some 2000 years ago.

Our last scheduled stop was to an Andean Instrument Workshop where got to see a demonstration on how bamboo was used to create musical instruments. We saw (and heard) many different examples of Andean musical instruments ranging from small bamboo instruments to a larger instrument that can be heard from miles and was used to call people from surrounding villages.

By the end of the day we were all so hungry from all the activities. We had dinner at a traditional Ecuadorian restaurant where I had shrimp with some sort of garlic sauce on it. I was very nervous about the food going into the trip, but I had an excellent meal at this restaurant. I'm excited to see what the rest of the trip will bring! Tomorrow we depart to Quito which should be an excellent time.

Photos: Ecuador

lachowiezm — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 08:51:00 GMT

Pre-Service Blog

lachowiezm — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 08:44:00 GMT

The term "culture" is used to describe patterns seen uniting a group of people. These patterns can be observed in the way families interact, in the traditions and beliefs held by a group of people, as well as general everyday ways of life. The culture of the United States is fascinating due to the wide variety of people and backgrounds present.

Overall, the culture that I come from can be described as predominantly western. I believe my culture can be described as one that values freedom and equality. The United States prides itself on the fact that it is a free county where its citizens have the undeniable rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" as it is stated in the Declaration of Independence. We are reminded of this every 4th of July when the country celebrates its independence. While there is still some discrepancy of the equality of gender and race in our country, ideally, the United States is seen as a place where everyone is treated equally which is something that is not seen all over the world. At the most basic level, everyone in our country has the same basic human rights, and legally no one is treated differently based off of skin color or gender. This has fueled a philanthropic mindset in may people including myself in that we want all people in all locations to be equal to us. Many people believe in the importance of volunteering and giving back in a way that is helpful to not only our community but to people all over the world. Our culture is also one that embraces individuality. We have grown up in a society that teaches each one of us to stand out and be unique and special in our own way. We are also taught the importance of hard work at an early age and that with hard work comes rewards. This idea has made our country very materialistic which, arguably, isn't always a good thing. However, material goods allows people to be rewarded for their work and achievements as well as expressing their individuality through the things they possess. Through hard work, our country has been seen to progress rapidly and extensively. It is very commonly seen that change not only in the county as a whole, but on the individual level of personal growth, is recognized as something very positive. It gives an optimistic approach to looking at things in a way that anything can be improved to the better and we can always continue to progress forward.

While there are undoubtedly similarities in the Ecuadorian culture to that of the United States, there are noticeable differences. For instance, Ecuador is primarily Roman Catholic which is also very common in the United States, however, a wide variety of religions including many different denominations of Christianity. Due to the presence of Catholicism in Ecuador and everything that we have been told so far like not to wear shorts, I am expecting to be visiting a very conservative society. Other than this, I don't have very many assumptions about Ecuador because I am going into this study abroad experience with a very open mind because I'm not really sure what to expect! I am a bit worried about the language barrier as I do not speak Spanish and that is the predominant language spoken.

Since I am looking to go into the health care field, I am very interested to learn about the health care system in Ecuador and compare it to that of our own country. Ecuador has a public health care system that is available for free, however it is not considered very good. About 20% of the population uses the social security health care system known as the IESS, Instituto Ecuadoriano de Seguridad Social, or in English, the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (Lopez-Cevallos and Chi, 2009). It is commonly agreed that the best medical services can be found in Quito, Cuenca, and Guayaquil. Patients from rural areas are often times transported to larger cities for better access to health care. Unfortunately, an inequality is seen among those of different socioeconomic classes and their utilization of health care services. In 2009, it was seen that almost a third of Ecuadorian citizens did not have regular access to health services and over two thirds did not have health insurance nor the sufficient resources to pay for health services (Lopez-Cevallos and Chi, 2009). Due to these inequalities, it can be suggested that a health care reform is needed in Ecuador in order to provide more citizens with the health care services they are in need of. I hope to be able to learn more during my time in Ecuador to see how health care works in other parts of the world.

Works Cited:

Health care utilization in Ecuador: a multilevel analysis of socio-economic determinants and inequality issues: Daniel F López-Cevallos and Chunhuei Chi

http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/3/209.long#cited-by