My Favorite Things: Shopping, Kids, and Food

Mercado Artisinal showed many different aspects of Ecuadorian culture. In one space, there were indigenous people, food, language, clothing, and more. This one space showed a glimpse of the different aspects of Ecuador. I was able to go to this market and see Ecuador as a whole. I could just go and see the different parts that make up Ecuador; no one had to tell me that Ecuador has indigenous people, fruit is popular, bright clothing is worn, or that Spanish is the primary language. Instead, I could just look around me and take that in.

Neque was an awesome experience. Even though we weren’t sight-seeing, it felt really good knowing that I made an impact in a child’s life. These kids don’t live the same life that I grew up in. They have a hard home life or aren’t financially stable. I learned that I could communicate with someone without talking. I couldn’t say much to these kids, but we all understood how to have fun with each other and play together. These kids were so kind and just wanted to have fun. I learned the importance of putting the bad behind you and embracing the now. These kids had such great attitudes despite their home life. They wanted to give us hugs and just do things that would make them happy. There are so many times when I let bad things destroy my mood, but these kids taught me that I shouldn’t do that. No matter the circumstance, I should just look up and be happy.

Service is such a huge part of my life. I am in the service fraternity on campus and have dedicated many hours to those who need help. Service is fulfilling to say the least. It feels good knowing that I am doing something for someone else. These kids need role models, and we were able to be those role models. People who are being served are given a sense of hope. You are able to give much more than money—you can give them hope for the future and show them that there is good in the world.

  
Cooking with my professors served as a form of intercultural communication because they were teaching us how to make traditional food of their culture. In the book, Tales of a Female Nomad, Rita went to Thailand and was able to form relationships with the women over there just by cooking with them and sharing their food. It was a way for us to connect with our professors on a different level. We were able to make the food that we have been trying since we have gotten here. We don’t have to know how to speak fluent Spanish in order to cook food. We were able to communicate with them in a different way.

I enjoyed cooking with our professors, but I thought that there wasn’t a lot for us to do. It was cool to see how to make a food traditional to their culture and talk with our professors outside of a classroom setting. With that being said, there was a lot of us trying to help and there wasn’t a lot of preparation needed from the students. I wish we could’ve have done more. I think working in our classes with our professor would’ve been more effective. I think it would’ve provided for a more intimate space for learning how to make their food. I really enjoyed interacting with all of the professors because I only knew two of them. I liked seeing everyone interacting with one another.       

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