Paige #1

1) How are some of your beliefs and attitudes regarding appearance, food, and social practices potentially ethnocentric?  
This is something I have worked on throughout my travels with trying to be more open minded about differences. Some of my beliefs that may be ethnocentric would be mainly my social practices. One example that comes to mind is that I enjoy order, efficiency and in general am very type A. I consistently work on being more relaxed throughout my travels and remember to enjoy the journey, not just the destination. I have to remember that different cultures have different paces of life and to move with their pace. Sometimes this is difficult for me when I am in a group and things are not organized. 
The thing I am reminded is egocentric is that as an outsider I almost fetishize different cultures clothing. For instance, I will think it is so cool because it is different. 
An attitude that I have that can be considered egocentric is that I value knowledge and hard work. I am interested in learning about what values Ecuadorians value in their everyday lives and what is important to them. 

2) What are some stereotypes you have heard/seen about Latin-Americans? 
I have stereotypes about them always being positive, happy and dancing around. I know there are tellanovellas where the actors are emotional; however, I generally feel like the people do not discuss their emotions as much as I would want to. I guess another stereotype I have is that families gather around the TV watching tellanovellas. I also have the stereotype that these people all play soccer and are good at the sport. I understand this may not be true. 

3) What are some stereotypes you think Latin-Americans might have about your culture? 
I am genuinely interested in how people view me as an American! I think people will assume we all eat cheeseburgers from McDonalds and are all fat. I am excited to show them that we are active and healthy! I think our host family will not have these beliefs because they often host students at their house but I know sometimes other people will have these beliefs. I think other stereotypes may be that we all like Trump as our President or that we all share similar political beliefs. People may assume that I am a 'dumb blonde' just from the way I look. I am always eager to test peoples beliefs and have their minds changed because of a positive experience! 

4) What challenges do you anticipate encountering in Ecuador? 
A challenge I expect is that the language barrier will prevent me from truly connecting with residents living in Quito. I also am a bit nervous because I feel as if when I travel alone I experienced similar feelings to Rita where her worries about other people traveling, and this almost worsens her experience. I want to work on being my authentic self and not allowing the groups, or possibly an individuals negativity at times to impact my mood. Another worry I have about this experience is that the food will make me sick, or since I do not eat pork, my experience will be impacted. I am open to eating pork products in small amounts, but I will not be eating a whole slab of pork. 

5) What rewards do you hope to gain? 

I hope to gain a new mindset in terms of relationships and how I can work to better my relationships with others. I have a stereotype that Ecuadorians value relationships more than we do here in America and I want to learn from them on how they tend and care for their relationships. I want to also learn about the way they value life and their outlook on life. A reward for me is that I will be able to be exposed to other cultures and learn from them many lessons I cannot learn in a classroom. 

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