Mitad del Mundo & Mamá Clorinda

The most surprising thing I learned at Mitad del Mundo was that there is dispute about where the actual equator is. While it was nice to go to the more tourist-esque Equator and to the more laid back and professional Equator, I was surprised by the lack of consensus about the location. I feel as if, with modern technology, it would be much easier to determine where the exact Equator, instead of leaving it to a guessing game.
The food at Mamá Clorinda's was good, but did not spectacularly blow my mind. I was surprised to find that many of the foods were things I had tried before while at my host family house, including ceviche, plantains, and sweet figs. In all honesty, I preferred the foods that my host family has prepared. Even though the restaurant did not completely blow my mind, I still enjoyed the food and the company. My favorite food there was the soup with cheese and potatoes. It did not taste like potato soups I had tried before, but it was absolutely a comfort food. Each time I have tried ceviche, it has put me out of my comfort zone. I always know that it will be cold, but it still catches me off guard. I have tried it three times now and have decided that it is something I am not a huge fan of. I did enjoy trying it. Also, putting nuts and banana chips in the ceviche was very different than something I've ever seen. I loved the strawberries and cream as well. I really appreciate the fact that many of the desserts in this country are made with fruits.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Carly V.- Blog Post #16

In blog post #4 Carly mentions how her family will hug and kiss people, even those they do not know. This is a way to use gestures as a form on communication, even if you do not share the same language. I though that this example showed effective intercultural communication. Because I did not speak much Spanish before going on the trip, using this form of communication was a large part of how I navigated conversations and relationships with the people that I met.  In blog post #6 Caitlin also displayed an effective form of intercultural communication. In her post she was referring to her time at Neque y Mas Neque. Because she was not completely confident in her Spanish speaking abilities, she found other ways to connect and communicate with the children. For her, this alternative form of communication came from dance. Dance was a universal form of communication between her culture, and the  culture of the ...
Read more

Meng - Blog 16

1. In Paige's Blog(#14), she mentioned that she used some nonverbal communication to communicate with teachers when they were cooking. It is an effective way of intercultural communication. I totally agree that sometimes, if you don't know how to express yourself, body language helps a lot, and it even works better than language. 2. In Blog12, Tyessa said that she feel not close with her host family, and usually, they don't communicate with each other too much, which makes she felt upset because she wants to get closer to them. In my points of view, it can be seen as an ineffective communication. I think in the process of communicating with people, sometimes you should learn to be proactive. Break the silence first, and take the initiative to communicate with others. If you are especially enthusiastic about other people, they will feel it. 3. An example of effective communication came from  Linsey. She talked about how the communication way changed ...
Read more

Blog Post Fourteen: The Market, Neque y Mas Neque, and Cooking

Image
Neque y Mas Neque The Mercado Artisinal is a great metaphor for Ecuadorian culture. The market is filled with handmade clothing, blankets, pottery, jewelry, and so many more items that are staples of Ecuadorian culture. All of these items also tend to be made or filled with bright colors which is common here in Ecuador. Another way the Mercado Artisinal is a metaphor for Ecuadorian culture is the fact that you negotiate the price of the item. In Ecuador, it is common to negotiate prices in markets, at street vendors, and even in taxis. The biggest thing I learned from the kids while working at Neque is that it doesn’t matter whether a kid comes from the U.S., Germany, or Ecuador or whether they are in poverty, the middle class, or they are rich, they are all the same. Every kid wants to play, to learn, and to have someone care about them and take an interest in their life. During our time at Neque I also learned that doing service work, no matter the size of your contribution,...
Read more