Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship

Jerrin in Ecuador

Live and live well.

My goals for Ecuador:
Learn Spanish
Experience a different culture
Not get homesick
Gain knowledge of the medical situations in other countries

I feel pretty confident about my time here. I have been able to experience Ecuador in full force. There were times when I was very frustrated with my speaking ability and homesickness, but with some help of some very good friends both problems passed fairly quickly. My time in classes was very good and I had the opportunity to take a class on the culture and civilization of the country, with focus on current politics, social issues, and past governments. This class not only taught me about Ecuadorian politics but also let me take a different perspective on American politics.

The culture, it’s everywhere!!! This past week was a very large celebration here as it was the anniversary of the Foundation of Quito. For just about the whole week, the streets were filled with vendors, parks full with concerts every night, and all of the people of Quito seemed to be celebrating. I have noticed that the “Fiestas of Quito” really kind of act as our Thanksgiving, where families spend time together and celebrate, then also kickstart the Christmas season. This is one example of the very rich culture that just about everyone holds very close. It is interesting to me to be able to experience living with a different family.. Especially one who is from a completely different culture. I absolutely love my family and am so lucky to live with them, but living with another family makes me appreciate my family in The States all the more!! Which leads me to the homesickness… It’s not fun, but a good way to combat it is stay busy and try to make the best of everything. I have some wonderful friends, both here and at home who have supported me and been there when I need them. Being homesick is not fun, but similar to the family aspect, it has really shown me the important things in my life, and all too soon I will be back home living “the comfortable life” as some have put it. This phrase bothered me at first, but the more time I spend here the more true it is. Yes, I and most everyone I know has worked hard for the things that we have, but it’s easy in comparison. We don’t have to walk up and down mountains to get to the bus station that would take hours to get to a destination. Where I am from we don’t have to use a gate and three doors to get into the house ( for security purposes). I am very fortunate to have the life that I do and while I realized that before, now I have a whole new understanding.

In my 17 weeks here I had 9 weeks of grammar classes, a week vacation, four weeks of culture and civilization  and now the final three weeks are spent at an internship at a clinic! My time is spent watching surgeries and caring for patients with the doctors. I absolutely love ever minute I spend there, sometimes I get confused because medical vocabulary is very different than the style I learned in class, but that just means I get to learn that much more. Every day is different, some days there are three or four surgeries to watch, and others are spent talking with the doctors and nurses (in Spanish because very few of them can speak even a little bit of English . I have learned so much about the healthcare and education systems here and it has definitely affected my appreciation of healthcare in other countries. Sometimes they don’t have the resources necessary and have to “make due”, which in my opinion is almost more interesting than going by the textbooks. They have to work by hand writing patient records, surgery charts, and other necessary documents, where in most clinics in the US use computers for everything.

I want to go to Physicians Assistant school after I graduate in 2014 and then hopefully use my knowledge of Spanish to work in an area of high concentrations of Latin-American people. And hopefully one day be able to work abroad in a Spanish speaking country.

For I agree with Mr. Emerson when he said- “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson Hopefully one day I will be able to say that I have lived, and lived well.

I promise it’s worth it.

In previous blogs I have talked about my experience arriving in Quito, and how it was not exactly how I pictured it, but then again I didn’t really have a good idea as to what I was getting in to. My first couple weeks here were thrilling, full of traveling and new friends and an exciting new language that kept me from thinking about the cultural differences. I think it was about my 5th week here when I had my 21st birthday and then the following weeks when I realized how different things are. Ecuador is a country that has many “American Style” things like restaurants, and stores, but each has an Ecuadorian base. For example, one afternoon as I was walking home from school (as it was a sunny day and I was trying to avoid the ever crowed public buses  I stopped at the iconic American restaurant and was beyond surprised at the menu. Things like McPollo (McChicken), Big Mac appeared, but also empanadas, a very typical Ecuadorian food. I was also surprised at how, even though its practically the same food it tastes different than at home, but I kind of like the different taste.  It makes it Ecuadorian.

Other than a few other situations to the McDonald’s one, I haven’t really experienced an extreme culture shock. The language is sometimes very frustrating and it’s very hard to find Ecuadorians who can speak English, so I must perfect my Spanish. In four months I’m very surprised at how far I’ve come ( and still have a long way to go) but it is super rewarding to actually be able to talk to people in line or on the bus. At first I found it very frustrating that I couldn’t understand and couldn’t communicate with the people around me…. And somewhere along the way it became possible, not overnight and not without struggle, but eventually.

I have struggled a lot with homesickness, which frustrates me more than anything. I am in Ecuador, learning a new language and I want to go home? No, I cannot accept this. So every time I start to feel this way, I go up to the top of our building and look at this beautiful city I am living in. The view is incredible and reminds me why I am here, to learn Spanish. Classes have been incredible difficult at times and that is frustrating too, but the I remember it’s only four short months, just four months then I go home.

I guess that’s it, eventually. In the beginning I kept telling myself, I will be able to communicate, I will be able to travel then eventually I will be able to go home. So far I’m pretty confident in my time here, I have taken opportunities to travel, to see the country, to talk with ecuadorians and also to find out more about myself and my limits (which are sometimes tested while traveling, or even in classes), but overall if you try hard enough, eventually you will reach your goals and then be able to share with others your experiences, and hopefully those you share them with will make bigger goals to reach.

In my time here I have taken Mark Twains words to heart….

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Ecuadorian Politics & U.S. Election

I have always believed that politics are very important, but for the most part are one’s own opinion and never really put much effort into the topic. However, I quickly learned that when you are from America, everyone wants to know your opinion on President Obama.  The first couple of times I was asked, I quite honestly had no clue how to respond!  I was not used to talking about politics ( I usually stick to talking about biology or other closely related topics) let alone sharing opinions so openly.  I quickly learned how many people view America, and how different it is from how I personally view our politics.  As the election came closer everyone (Ecuadorian and otherwise) wanted to hear all about how I was to vote and how I felt about the current topics!  This was very strange to me, but i now understand how important our politics are to the rest of the world.  One day at school a friend of mine from Germany asked how I thought the Presidential Debate went the night before, as he had watched it and wanted my “American opinion”, any the only response I had was that I didn’t watch it.  This bothered me quite a bit, that a person from another country who couldn’t vote one way or another still listened and cared about the debate, yet I could vote, but didn’t take the time to hear what President Obama and Senator Romney had to say.  Needless to say from that point on I made a special effort to keep myself informed as best as I could from outside the country, which was actually easier than I expected thanks to technology. After the election the questions kept coming, and I’ll have to say it was very eye opening to view the election from here, especially without all of the political commercials.

Three weeks ago I had my last “Grammar” class and had a week of vacation then started my Culture and Civilization class.  Even though grammar classes are very necessary in learning a language, I think I have learned more in these last two weeks than I ever thought possible.  Each day we start out talking about current events from our own countries and also Ecuadorian news.  I absolutely love learning about how the government has changed throughout the years and the different impacts past presidents have had.  Some very good others very bad, but overall I am very grateful that we have a strong government that works together with the people, even though sometimes it might not seem that way. One day our class took a trip to the National Assembly, which is open to the public, to view Ecuadorian legislation.  I was absolutely shocked, because it was nothing like I expected.  I expected to see orderly debates and discussions over the new possible law, with lots of participation from all of the members similar to the image in my head of what an assembly looks like, but it was almost the exact opposite.  Later our professor told us that the National Assembly is composed of members elected by popular vote, but don’t necessarily have a political background, some are soccer players, models, TV hosts etc.  Which makes sense as the people vote for the people they know, however, this doesn’t really improve the situation.  There will be a presidential election in February to reelect President Correa or to elect a new president. This provides many interesting discussion topics and is very important to the people, also because here it is MANDATORY to vote, not just an option. In the months to come there will be many public appearances and debates to gain votes, but not in the same way the United States candidates campaign. There are around 6 major parties that will either group together to support a candidate or have their own, which is very different from our 2 party system.

I still have a lot to learn about politics, but along the way I am learning the importance of being informed even if things don’t go the way we think they should. We are very lucky to have the freedoms and systems that we do and I know I will definitely pay more attention to national events when I get back home.

I stumbled upon this quote and now realize how incredibly true it is.

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
― Terry Pratchett

We are all in the same boat!

Traveling to South America for a semester is the hardest thing I have done in my life this far, even harder than the statistics final that I spent a week studying for.  Leaving everything behind and going to a completely new place is something I have only experienced once in my life, when I moved to my university.  Growing up my family and I lived on the same farm and my sister and I attended school in the same school district for all 13 years.  My life was far from perfect, but I can honestly say if I had the chance to change it, I wouldn’t.  I had been very active in 4-H and FFA, which ignited a very intense curiosity about the world around me, while also teaching me the importance of knowing and appreciating where I come from.  I have found this to be especially important when discussing America with my friends that I have made while abroad.  It is very interesting to hear others perceptions of Americans and politics, because, being from America, I never really think about the impact our country has on the rest of the world.  To some, The States are the epitome of Utopia, yet to others, America is just another country on the map.  I have learned that some of the ways Americans do things might not be the best, and I have learned that I really don’t know a whole lot about the rest of the world.  Of course I have a general knowledge of things… but I want to know more….

Outside of in-depth discussions about education systems, politics, and languages, we are all the same here. My school is a small language school that provides courses for students for credit or for those traveling who wish to get a better grasp on the language.  Making friends is both very easy and very difficult.  On one hand everyone is in the same boat, we’re in Ecuador and have a lot to learn about the language and culture of the people around us, making it very easy for us to find common interests and topics of conversation.   However, it is very difficult to keep these friends because many are traveling through South America and are just taking classes for a few short weeks.  It definitely adds perspective and is very different from the group of friends I have had for the past 15 years of my life.

Even though I am not backpacking through South America I have done a fair amount of traveling throughout Ecuador and everywhere I go, I always seem to find someone to strike up a conversation with, either at hostels or at restaurants, and every time I am surprised about how much we have in common.  At 21 years old and as a junior in college, I can say that before my trip abroad I had no desire to talk to strangers in the States – besides my mother always told me not to – but here in Ecuador it almost feels necessary.  I am constantly asking directions, or the best place to start hiking, and a conversation inevitably follows. There are so many fascinating people in this world with more stories to tell than any one person could fathom.  I have made it my goal to learn more, know more people, and try more foods, because in the end it can only make me a better person.

Leaving for Ecuador – Bittersweet

If you had asked me a year ago if I would study abroad my response would have been “Of course! Being in college gives a free chance to visit another country” or something to that effect.  In actuality, I never really thought it would happen.  Going to college is expensive and quite honestly I was very naïve about where to even begin planing a trip abroad.   I knew that I wanted to go to South America to learn Spanish, so I investigated programs at the study abroad office at my university.  I chose a program in Quito, Ecuador that fit me academically and professionally.  Somehow everything worked out – I booked plane tickets, enrolled in classes and started packing for a semester in Quito, Ecuador before it really hit me that I was actually able to go.  When I finally grasped what was happening, I was more than ready!

Preparing to travel out of the country alone is not done easily.  Sure, the logistics and details are fairly manageable, but it is more the emotional and mental aspect that truly takes an effort.  I was fortunate enough to have some friends who have traveled to Ecuador in the past and offered tips as to the best travel spots and details of that nature.  One very dear friend told me to “pack half of what you THINK you need, and then actually take less”, and I kind of wish I had followed this advice more closely.  I knew I had over-packed, but wanted to be prepared for anything that might come my way! I wish it was possible to prepare for every trouble that stumbles into our paths, but those bumps in the road are what make it possible for us to grow.

Goodbyes turned out much more difficult than I had ever imagined.  In fact, I predicted that leaving my friends and family would be one of the more manageable things, due to the new adventure I was embarking on.  Despite this, it was really difficult. It might have started out as a manageable task but as more goodbyes were given the harder it got.  I knew I would be missing quite a few very important holidays and events. The more I thought about it all the worse it got.  But later I realized how lucky I was to have the opportunity to spend a semester in Ecuador.  This semester, I will learn more about another culture by experiencing holidays in a foreign country, and I will be able to spend all my future holidays with loved ones.

While I was very prepared in the clothing and supplies department, I was very ill prepared when it comes to knowledge the city itself.  I distinctly remember looking out the plane window as we approached the city and simply being in awe.  Little did I know the airport is in the middle of the city with mountains on either side.  I remember saying to myself ” I’m in Quito now, here is my home” and for some reason saying out loud made it more believable than the many times I had dreamed the same sentence before actually leaving.  As far as I could see out the tiny airplane window was a beautifully illuminated city and after landing, finding my family, and driving away from the airport, I realized things would be much different from what I had imagined.  Some say ignorance is bliss and in some cases this is true! From the aspect that I had very little knowledge about the city I was able to start with pretty much a clean slate.  I have completely fallen in love with Quito.  The city is full of very rich, deep-rooted culture, with a thriving modern society mixed in.  I have learned so much in the few weeks I have been here and can not wait to experience more!

 

Fresh Fruit Juice in Quito

From day one here in Quito I have been pleasantly surprised with both quality of food here and also my sense of adventure when it come to trying new things.  Unfortunately, I was a rather “picky eater” back in the U.S.  My excuse? – well I don’t really have one. I made a promise to myself several weeks ago that aside from chicken feet and cow tongue.  I will try as many new foods here in Ecuador as I can, and if I end up not liking the food in question then I never have to try it again.  This has turned out to be very rewarding, in fact some of my new favorite foods are things I never would have even tried in the past.

For example – Friends of mine at the school kept talking about how terrible “tomate de arbol” was. I remember seeing the fruit in a market one of my first weeks here and thought it looked strange and therefore never thought I would try it.  Not to mention that more than one person on multiple occasions had described it’s “grossness”.

Every morning for breakfast my host-mom takes fresh fruit (that varies from day to day) and makes natural juice with a little sugar and water.  At first I was not exactly a fan… It sometimes has seeds and other times is just… watery. Over time I have come to really enjoy my morning juice and little did I know one of my favorite juices contained Tomate de Arbol and I found out later that as a juice the fruit is rather delicious. This has made me realize we are all different and it is possible that my Host Mom is Wonderwoman and can make “gross” fruit delicious, but that is highly unlikely.  What is more likely is that we all have different likes and dislikes and until we try a food, fruit or dish for ourselves we will never know..

A very typical plate of Latinamerica is Ceviche, a cold soup like dish made from raw ingredients that vary from place to place, and usually with shrimp, fish, or chochos (a bean).  The first time I tried it was one fantastic day on the beach with friends from Ecuador, and from other countries. Ceviche is VERY popular on the beaches and is supposed to be the best when had actually on the beach.  I wish I could say I enjoyed it, because it is a very traditional dish, but sometimes it just doesn’t work.  I actually tried ceviche another time in class, when the professors at my school put together a cooking class where we all got to participate in preparing the dish. Yet, again a second time it is still not my favorite.
Being in Ecuador has taught me to try new things, especially when it comes to food.  Like people in the States, Ecuadorians really like fast food.  However, their fast food is slightly different than ours.  While both are rather high in calories due to deep frying I have found Ecuadorian french fries (which are actually more like steak fries and found at street vendors and restaurants) to be absolutely delicious, and socially acceptable for a meal replacement.

These few examples are only a glimpse of the new foods I have tried, but if I wrote about all of them you might get bored.  Overall food in Ecuador is different but in some ways much better.  Most families don’t exactly keep food, but buy food everyday, which means less processed foods and more fresh ingredients.  I think I will adopt some of the same ideas.. especially fresh fruit juice in the morning!

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

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