Takin´ it to the Streets

Today has been the warmest day since my arrival, it is close to 90 degrees and the sun seems especially bright and warm!
I wanted to share the experience I had while walking on the street three blocks from my home this morning. I came upon a group of over 5,000 people marching and protesting for the implementation of a new constitution, one that would more closely reflect the political ideologies of the current, newly-elected president Rafael Correa, a leftist radical that won the election by a 30% margin in early January. The current constitution reflects the ideals and pursuits of the former Ecuadorian president, Alfredo Palacio, a conservative. Anyway, it was really quite interesting to witness this. I am not accostumed to witnessing citizens as poltically galvanized in the States as they are in Latin America. Unlike the in United States, countries such as Chile, Argentina, and Ecuador it is a legal mandate to vote, as a result the citizenry is much more active, aware, and involved in the political process. With this being said however, I should indicate that my host family appears to be pretty politically neutral, they rarely watch the news and choose not to engage in political discussions, much to my shagrin. In fact, this morning while I was watching the news, there was a feature on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. My mama asked me, "do want the woman or the negro to win?"...
I was slightly taken aback.
When attempting to discuss Ecuadorian politics with my family, they appear to know little about the corruption of certain previous politicians...
Anyway, just thought I would take a minute to share...