Changing of the Gaurds

I’m not quite sure what I expected for El Cambio de la Gaurdia, but it was a cool experience. I noticed that when we have ceremonies like this in Washington D.C., we also sing national songs. Here, they sang songs true to their country just like we would in the U.S. They also had all of the government people in one spot and the rest of the citizens looking up to them. It is like this in the U.S. as well. The enthusiasm from the people is also relatively the same in both countries. Another similarity, was protecting the president. When I looked around, there were people on the roofs with guns ready to fire if something out of the ordinary happened. In the U.S., we have secret service. These people protect the President. One major difference that I noticed was where I was standing. In the U.S., it would be impossible to be as close to the White House as we were to the President’s Palace. There seemed to be a lot less people at this ceremony than there would be in the U.S.—with that being said, I have never actually been to the White House. Another difference was the horses. In the U.S. we don’t have the horses run around in circles; however, in both countries there is a grand entrance with a band.

I imagine that these weekly ceremonies are so important to the people of Ecuador because they haven’t had very good presidents. This ceremony was assuring the safety of the president. People like to see the President because I believe that it put things into perspective. Being there today, people would wave at the President and he would wave back. This gives people reassurance that the President is indeed real and willing to acknowledge their presence. This ceremony is important because it brings them together as a community. Ecuadorian culture is very collectivist, so getting together every week must be important to them.


I would say that overall the transportation is the same—the difference is how they drive the transportation. We have buses and taxis in major cities in the U.S., but the rules on the road seem to be different here. They get very close to one another and don’t wait for people or cars. I have never been on public transportation before this trip because I have always lived in a fairly small town, so this is all very new to me. The way that these buses take off is intense. I always have trouble just holding on to one of the handles. I also didn’t realize how many people try and cram their way onto the buses. I was on the bus one time, and it was so packed that they were closing the doors on people. The buses also don’t wait long. If you have to get off, you better get off as fast as you can. The same goes for getting on the bus. I once saw the bus take off with the doors open and this guy almost fell out. I would say that public transportation is probably very similar in the U.S. I know that in big cities, like New York, the transportation is very packed as well. I am getting used to how the taxis and buses work, so that nice—I can’t say that I will get used to the quick take-offs and stops though.    

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