The above picture is of me and my amazing travel partner Chisara and our equally amazing Andean Anthropology professor, Angelica Ordoñez of USFQ. I remember her walking past us our last day and me thinking why not get a picture, she was very challenging and a great educator with TONS of reading but it was a great class.
I actually snagged that pic m
oments before our program director and housing coordinator, Tania Ledergerber y Victoria, took us out to eat lunch as a farwell kind of event. It was very relaxing because throughout the semeter the students and IPSL butted heads and most people had issues with their service placement, but not at this lunch. We all realized it was over and we had fun over the five months we shared. The picture to the left is one last pic with all of us together.After the lunch we decided to hit up the Guayasamin museum in Quito that we forgot to go to over the five months we were there. It was called "La Capilla del Hombre" (The Chap
el of Man) and the museum was a costumized viewing hall for the Ecuadorian artists work. For more info on him go here===> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guayasamin . One part of the building that stuck out to all of us were these HUGE letters on the wall that formed this short four line poem that sort of sums up the tragic death-like humanity that the artist expresses in his paintings. The words read, "Yo Llore porque, no tenia zapatos, hasta que vi un niño, que no tenia pies", which translated reads "I cried because, I did not have shoes, until I saw a boy, who didn't have legs". It sort of speaks to ignorance and realizing that as terrible a situation we may ever be in, there's always someone who's going through something worse. He leaves it at that for shock value, I think to urge the audience to act, maybe, not? There's another pic at the top right that's very dramatic called "Lagrimas de Sangre"(Tears of Blood).
These last pics are of my host family minus one brother and sister. I never really took pictures o
f them throughout my time there. We honestly didn't spend that much time together, because I was always running around doing a million things. I did however have a good relationship with Andres and still keep up on the Facebook. The mother Lorena and the father Ernesto. They were some of the most generous and caring people I've met in my life. I couldn't have asked for any better treatment and love from a complete stranger. They've had several other host students as well so I'm sure they were pros at it by the time I came to Quito. -Thanks-
Some Quick Last thoughts on these pics. I had cuy(guinea pig) the night before I left. And yea, um not the best fried food I've eaten, I mean beignets or fried rodent...but it's unique to the indigenous Kichwa speaking descendents of Incan empire. But the large majority of ecuadorians do NOT eat guinea pig, although there are large indigenous groups throughout the larger urban areas and rural.I also bought some flowers for my mom in the airport. It was like $12 I think for two dozen flowers that were the most beautiful roses I've ever bought(but i'm inexperienced), but no smell at all. I got searched like crazy at the airport leaving Ecuador and coming to the U.S. They even made me turn my ipod on and off to ensure that it wasn't a bomb I guess? It was ridiculous, but again, I think I just got the "Aladdin"
treatment. Sometimes my racial ambiguity skews some to think I'm of "Middle-Eastern" descent. While that may have not been the case...they didn't search anybody else like they did me...
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