Reflections

This is the view from one of the many windows in this small, but beautiful corner apartment that I have been graciously invited to live in for 4 months. Although there is a security guard whistling into the dark at passerbyers on the grounds below, I feel at peace here. Tomorrow is Monday and the last day before classes start on Tuesday. It feels weird that I haven't worked for three weeks at a job, which is the longest stretch I have been without a job in 4 years. However, this has definitely been the right choice for me. There have already been complications on this trip and I expect there will be many more, but I have never once felt that I should not be here. This is where I was meant to go and experience living in another country, another culture, and another language without it being a vacation. I feel I am ready to experience life as it is with an openness of heart and an openness of mind.

Over the last few days, I have experienced many unique experiences, like taking a packed trolley where you barely have enough room to breath, attempting to dance salsa and merengue but realizing my body has no rhythm, exploring a city that has an older history than the country I am from, slowly understanding a diverse language day by day, experiencing a culture that incorporates indigenous history, language, and knowledge into it, and most of all being a minority. That word in itself is terrifying but also rather intriguing. The word signifies that we are not like most of the people here, which is very true. We may have different realities but I think this is a chance for me to learn about different ways of living and viewing this world we all share. Already, I have experienced a community that is willing to teach you about their culture with incredible patience (which includes laughing at your mistakes).
However, I feel the hegemony of American culture is alive and well. Although, the country has evolved from the neoliberal age into one that is more left-wing, American culture still has its presence. It is visible in the stores I see on the street, the food in the grocery stores, the cars on the road, the "go-go-go" attitude, the mentality behind the country's economic progress, and the very fact that my host-mom can understand English and her daughter's are fluent in it. This has helped me a lot but at whose expense? Probably no one directly that I know of, but it is a reality that you have to be aware of in International Development. I am studying it because I am from a country that benefited from the colonizer, my history is one OF colonizers.

Although I was born a privileged person, I feel it is my calling in life to understand others realities and to use the resources I have been given to help them create "Sumak Kowsay" ("the Good Life" in Kichwa). This years trip to Ecuador, although not perfect, is my first step to trying to understand different realities, hopefully this new lens will help me see the bonds that tie us together as human beings, and the bonds that tie us to the entire world around us.

On another note, I feel like my family here has incredible similarities to my family at home (even though I met them 3 days ago). My language skills may not be strong, but we are able to communicate and share laughter at the same things. No matter where you are in the world, laughter is a tool that can bind people together.