Blog Post #14 - Eat, Hope, Love

I find that the Mercado Artisinal is a metaphor for Ecuadorian culture in that it holds so many different values, beliefs, and products in such a small area. Ecuador is its own country although it is the size of a state in the U.S., and yet its culture varies across its rolling mountainside and its sandy beaches. It’s a small country in comparison to ours, making my statement about the variations at the small market being similar to the variations in the country of Ecuador valid. Some stalls at the Mercado Artisinal sell paintings and different types of art. Some sell wool and clothing. Some sell decorative productions. Others still may sell different types of food. Each product is important to the individual, and both the seller and the consumer can share in the exchange that is the sharing of one culture’s values with another in the Ecuadorian Mercado Artisinal.

From Neque y mas Neque, I learned that kids just enjoy your company and are honest and willing to share anything with you, including candy or quality time. My best little friend, Diana, and I spent so much time together in the few days we shared. We were both so sassy, a little bit bossy sometimes, and just like to have fun and sometimes even just snuggle. On the first day we brought the kids candy, she slipped a piece into my pocket without me knowing. I found it later on the bus. I helped her with homework and she helped me understand that language isn’t always needed in a relationship or even in a conversation. Sometimes you just need to listen with your mind and your heart, not with your ears. Diana taught me that sometimes it’s better to just be present and to cherish the time you have with those around you while you have it. Our last day at Neque was hard as I realized that it was not even remotely likely that I would ever see Diana again. Here was a little girl who just connected with me on sight during our first visit and I wouldn’t see her again. I wouldn’t see her grow up or find out who she will become. Because I cherish relationships so deeply, I cried. And because of Diana, I know it’s okay to cry and to dream and to have fun.

Cooking with our professors today involved the sharing of our cultures without much languages required as it was working with the children at Neque y mas Neque. We spoke the language of food today with our professors. Although we’ve been taking Spanish classes for two weeks, the majority of us are still not fluent speakers. Thus, we communicated interculturally by sharing values and traditions, particularly those involving food, with each other as we prepared our own lunch. The challenges of cooking together, I believe, included that there may have been a few too many extra hands in the pot. That is to say that there wasn’t necessarily enough work for each of us to do, and by the end, a lot of us ended up sitting around. Of course, there’s a challenge as far as language goes as well, since as I said previously, most of us aren’t fluent in Spanish. The rewards included being able to interact and bond with our professors outside of the classroom and to put our intercultural skills to use as well as the language skills we have.