Jan 2007

Steve Wille, the director and dean of CEDEI hosts meetings/lectures on a weekly basis. This week marked the first of the 12 in his series. Today's subject was regarding the tumultuous history of Ecuadorian presidencies.
If I may, allow me to share some fascinating information gained from this lecture.
- Ecuador just elected and inaugrated a new president two weeks ago, Rafael Correa.
-Correa is anti-U.S. and anti-U.S./Ecuadorian relations
-Correa is good allies with Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez
-Ecuador returned to a Democracy in 1980
-65% of Ecuadorians live in poverty
-30% of Ecuadorians live without running water
-Rafeal Correa, is a socialist and his campaign platform was to remove power and wealth from the elite, he is claimed to a warrior of the poor
-In Ecuador there is no checks and balances over the military, the military has a limitless budget
-Jaime Roldo the president of Ecuador from 1978-1981 was a socialist, it was his presidency that marked the end of military rule over Ecuador and a return to Democracy.
-He was assassinated in 1981, his death was largely coordinated and supported by the US government and CIA
-Ecuadorians do not vote for someone, Ecuadorians vote against the person, instituition, or ideology they are against
-the thesis of Steve Wille's lecture was based in the notion that political tension is caused by disparities and differences in top and the bottom NOT tension between the right and left....something to ponder, political tension caused more by class and economics...
-the constituition has changed 30 times since 1980!
-corruption of banks, Treasurer, and governmental financial offices led to the end the currency of the sucre and the beginning of U.S. dollar--at this time the sucre was valued at 25,000 sucre to 1.00--extremely devalued---causing the current state of poverty in Ecuador

...so yeah, some interesting factoids about Ecuadorian political history!

I begin my internship tomorrow afternoon. After much deliberation and investigation into several agencies, I resolved to working at an orphanage quite near my school as well as my house. The orphanage, Miguel Leon, serves 50 girls between the ages of 6-18 whose placement in the orphanage has been caused by multiple reasons ranging from sexual abuse, parents' death, parental abondonment and crime. The orphange is operated by a group of 20 nuns. I, along with two other students from my group will be tutoring the girls 3 afternoons a week for two hours each day. I am so pumped!
Tonight, being Wednesday evening is "Ladies Night" at the Eucalyptus Cafe 6 blocks from my house. Our group will meet there for a few hours for "hang out" time.

Friday, following my morning classes we, as a group attended a merengue dance class-so much fun! We put our dance lessons to use later that evenng when we went to Fuzzion, a small live-music club...so much fun! We danced with Cuencanas and learned additional dance moves! I returned home and went to bed feeling great. I woke up suddenly an hour later feeling nauseous. To condense the remainder of this story, I spent the night sleeping or attempting to sleep on the bathroom floor until 7:00 AM. I took some Pepto and I was finally able to return to bed and slept until 10:00 AM. I felt fair for the remainder of the day. I assumed that my brief bout of illness was caused by drinking a beverage with ice in it. No Ecuadorian tap water is advised to be consumed.
Later that afternoon I went with my mama and papa to a birthday party hosted by a family friend. My mama's sister is also the host mother of a student in my group so it was even more enjoyable to spend that afternoon with a familiar face. Birthdays in Latin America are a big deal, regardless of age. I have never witnessed such a high concentration of drunken adults in my entire life, hahaha. All the men present at this gathering held an apparent appreciation for my eyes. As I left a line of 14 men was created to take photos of strictly my eyes...oh jeepers.
Katie and I (the girl whose host mother is my mama's sister) spent the remainder of that afternoon touring the city, window shopping, and cafe interneting. It was an early evening as we had to prepare for an early departure for Incapirca on Sunday. Incapirca is the site of an Incan ruin 2 hours north of Cuenca. Remaining from this ruin were structures to represent the sun, moon, the moon's cycle, seasons, and the summer and winter equinox (June 21 and December 21). It was so fascinating to stand on ground that was designated to honor universal elements such as the planets, sun, and moon and conceptions of time long before the influence of Galleleo and Colombus were introduced. Clearly these structures embodied much more advanced notions than that of European influence. Clearly these natives were much more precocious and mindful of the presence of something greater long before any other civilization. Incapirca spreads over about 3 acres of steep and rugged terrain so our day was spent hiking-a lot! Incapirca is really rural and 3,000 feet higher than that of Cuenca's altitude so sun exposure was especially strong. It was gorgeous, clear day and despite my application of sunscreen, my face and neck are quite red! The area of Incapirca is absolutely stunning, mountainous, green, rolling hills, and surrounded by a small river. We had a picnic lunch half way through our hike, finished the remainder and headed back to Cuenca. I had a little bit of homework last night and tried to go to bed early. I was so exhausted!
Today marked the beginning of a new week, with plenty to accomplish. My Spanish grammatics class is really challenging and really thought intensive, not that classes shouldn't be but this class especially leaves my brain hurting
This afternoon, we toured a museum in central Cuenca which holds ethographic artifacts of each indigenous tribe in Ecuador. It was really fascinating...among these artifacts included musical instruments, clothing, masks, and human heads found in aftermaths of warring tribes.
I am just about to head home for dinner at 7:30 and spend the remainder of my night doing homework.
I am still working hard to upload photos. I have made progress in that I have been able to download them onto my Kodak Easy Share program however, am having difficulty transferring them onto a file in "my pictures". If any of you have any advice regarding this matter-let me know! In the meantime, take care!

My classes began today. Although they offically commenced on Wednesday, due to my delayed arrival I was not able to attend the first set of classes. My Spanish grammatics course will be INTENSE, homework intensive, facilitated by a professor who demonstrates no mercy for those who cannot keep up. I feel slightly overwhelmed but have confidence that it will be entirely beneficial for my pursuit of language proficiency. My second course, service learning theory and community action and development should be academically easy however, the internships atteached to this class should be challenging. Initially I was encouraged to research a position at an orphanage however, it now appears as though I will be placed in one of two positions: A women's health center OR a women's prison...
I have heard both locations would prove to be a challenge however, I am actually really forward my visits to both locations next week. I am now done with classes for today and spending my free time prior to lunch responding to some emails and updating my blog (clearly). I will return home for lunch and then come back to school for a dance class at 3:00. Because my arrival was delayed I was not able to purchase any textbooks needed for my classes...therefore am having to pay money to the entirety of both books copied. Fortunately, it is only 1 cent per copy and it should only cost me about 15.00 for both books.

Things that I love about my experience thus far:
-my mama and papa, their warmth and their affectionate nature towards me
-the fact that my mama when speaking to me always holds my hand
-the beautiful view of the entire city from my rooftop
-consistently warm temperatures
-the smell of rain in the afternoon
-all of the females of my group
-walking everywhere
-feeling completely secure and safe
-las panaderias (little bakeries) on every street corner
-the architectural antiquity of the city, including the cobblestone streets
-the fact that I don't have to worry about my passport being stolen because CEDEI keeps them all in a safety deposit box, I just have to carry copies
-our German Shepard, Whiskey
-speaking Spanish until I reach the point of not wanting to speak English
-the educational resources and facility of CEDEI
-interacting with natives
-quaint little cafes that we frequent
-the inexpensive prices of EVERYTHING
-the entire staff-they are so helpful
-plenty of natural light in all buildings

Things I don't care for:
-the odor of exhaust when walking down the street from all the vehicle traffic
-taking cabs with directionally-impaired drivers
-the whistles, honks, stares, and sexual remarks received by the majority of Ecuadorian men
-chaos of traffic and the concept that pedestrians to not have the right of way
-cigarette smoking is permitted in all locations, including classrooms

On Sunday, as previously mentioned in my last blog entry we are headed to Incapirca the site of an Incan ruin two hours north of Cuenca.
Other girls in my group have been trying to upload photos and were haveing difficulties as well so perhaps e can out our brains together and see wat the issue is. I really do hope to have them uploaded soon!

I am so sorry, I experiencing technical difficulties and could not upload my photos. I will try to correct this ASAP so that you may have some visuals to accompany my mess of words

I write to you from the computer lab of the university at which I am currently studying, CEDEI, an acronym for Center for Interamerican studies. I am currently enrolled in two courses: Spanish Grammar and Syntax which meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for two hours and Service Learning Theory, a class which focuses upon community development technique, service learning, cultural competence, and social justice through social programming. Accompanied by this class will be an internship, ideally involving women and children however, my professor noted that there is greater need in child care and orphananges. I will not bee place in my volunteership until next week. Because my arrival was delayed into Cuenca I was not able to attend class on Wednesday, therfore tomorrow will mark the first day of my studies. I suspect that I will have quite a bit of catching up to do--although I am not too terribly concerned. I really enjoy all of the faculty and staff that work here at CEDEI, they are so great in helping to adjust quickly yet smoothly. The facilities are quite modern and class sizes incredibly small. I have four students in each of my classes. This is largely related to the size of our own group being only 13, ten women, and three men. There will not be another group of international students studying here until March. I really enjoy all of my group members and had the pleasure of going out with them last night at a popular cafe called Eucalyptus. I took a cab to return home for 1.00! I feel incredibly safe. My home is equipped with a gorgeous and sweet German Shepard (named Whiskey), one locked gate, two entry doors, and an alarm system. I live in a very safe neighborhod as most host families do. Speaking of host families, I have the absolute delight of living with Rebekah (mama), Jacinto (papa), Leonor (the maid), and their son Francisco who is 27. They have two other sons who are married so no longer live with them. Santiago, the middle son and his wife Vivian join us for lunch everyday and Pedro, the oldest son lives in Guayaquil with his wife and daughter. My mama and papa are SO, SO kind, loving, and accomodating. They consistently greet me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and are inquisitive as to my life in the States. My papa is an economist, previoulsy owned two car dealerships: Toyota and Mitsubishi (spelling questionable), but currently sells and distributes restaurant supplies, crystal, and silver from his home with his son, Francisco. They have a beautiful home, quite large for Ecuadorian standards. I have a bedroom to myself, with a double bed, my own television, bathroom, and patio that overlook my neighborhood. My family has problem keeping me stuffed. I will never go hungry here. They, as a family do not care for Guinea pig so I am pleased to report that I don't anticpate trying it--at least in my home. I live 15 minutes from school by foot. You walk everywhere, it's great! I posted photos on my blog of the inside of my home and captions of street dynamics in Cuenca.
This weekend (Sunday) we are taking a day trip to Incaprica, a site of an Incan ruin, two hours north of Cuenca.