Middle Earth

What do you thnk it will be like to visit the Ecuator? View this slide show and then leave a comment about what you think will happen when we do our experiment on each side of the equator.

Middle Earth on PhotoPeach

What I´ve learned

This great adventure really did have a purpose. I was investigating whether it is feasible to offer an education methods course over the winter term. My response is a resounding Yes! although I after experiencing the trip, I have revised my thinking about how to organize and deliver the course. There are definitely hurdles to overcome but the advantage of being here is that I believe that I have created a solution for each one.

Hurdles (solutions to be discussed in person)
1. The CEDEI classrooms and classrooms throughout Cuenca do not have access to educational technology.
2. The CEDEI students stay very busy with classes and afternoon cultural activities. There seems to be limited time for homework.
3. Some of the required assignments in the EDUC318 course do not translate well to the environment in Cuenca.

Benefits
1. The CEDEI experience offers American students an opportunity to learn about Hispanic culture from the inside. Students live with local families and travel throughout the country to learn about its different peoples and regions. Really learning this requires an extended stay.
2. The CEDEI experience offers American students an opportunity to experience what it is like to be in a foreign country and perhaps not always be the best student in the class. It allows them to understand what it feels like to process language and events through a different lense, thereby developing empathy for their future students who might come from a different background.
3. Several of the assignments in EDUC 318 require project based learning. Using the rich cultural environment of Cuenca will enhance this learning experience.
4. CEDEI sponsors an elementary school and partners with local high schools. Several of the CEDEI teachers are also high school teachers. Students studying in CEDEI would have a very real connection with local schools for observation and interaction with Ecuadorian students.

Coincidentally, there are three education majors on this trip. I took Trisha, an elementary major, to the elementary school with me one day. It was clear to me that she very much enjoyed interacting with the students. My discussions with each of the education majors on the trip have reinforced my thinking that this would be an excellent study abroad experience for our education majors. Each has said that they will write their thoughts for me to share. I look forward to returning to Ecuador and sharing this experience with our teacher candidates.

Ingapirca

Sunday was our last group trip in Cuenca. We went to Ingapirca, which are Cañari and Inca ruins. Cañari´s lived there from 1200 to 1400 and then the Inca´s lived there for about 60 years. The ruin site is quite impressive.

After that we went to the town of Cañar, which is an indigenous village. Sunday is their market day and it was a sight to behold. There were hundreds of indigenous people either shopping or selling or both. This was their market for meats, fruits, and vegetables. I guess they each produce something and then come to town to swap. I bought a huge bunch of tiny bananas, which are very sweet and about one third the size of a regular banana. Another difference is that the skins are very thin. And the whole bunch cost me 50 cents!

I tried to take some pictures and managed to get a few before one indigenous woman came at me firing away in her Spanish. At that point I was only taking pictures of her grapes, but she didn´t like that anyway. I´ve tried to be quite discrete when taking pictures of people. Don´t know what I will do with the over 450 pictures that I´ve taken so far. After I show them to anyone who will volunteer, they will probably reside in a case along with the rest of my pictures, only to be eventually discarded. After cleaning out Jeff´s parents house after they moved, I´ve learned that very little survives the next generation, nor should it :)

Cuenca

Wow, I´m finally getting into the rhythm of life in Cuenca and it is time to leave. I can see the advantages of staying longer. I went to the grocery store this weekend and even though it was on the other side of town and I took a taxi to get there, I met 3 teachers from the elementary school that I´ve been visiting at the grocery store. After greeting each of them in different aisles of the store, I began to feel like a local. And invariably as I walk through the streets going to or from class, I meet someone that I know from the town. Americans have quite a community here. But I´ve enjoyed meeting the local Ecuadorians also. On Friday I was invited to my Spanish teacher´s house for breakfast. That was super. She cooked waffles in my honor; I guess she thinks that is a typical American breakfast. She remarked that it was the first time that she had made them. And the real fun was that we decided that for this meeting, we should speak English only. It was fun to watch her struggle as I have done through most of our classes. She is really wonderful and welcomed me back to stay at her house any time. Now all I have to do is convince Jeff to come with me.

On Saturday, I spent the morning with Francisco, Anne´s artist friend. She said his paintings were great but I had no idea that they would be so wonderful. (and I´m picky!!) He is so talented. I was excited to see his work but also disheartened to learn how he struggles to sell his work. I´m hoping that Anne and I can figure out a way to help him get a showing in the US. Maybe I´ll open a gallery in Berlin and show the arts from Ecuador. At any rate, my suitcase is packed with two of his paintings. Hopefully they will survive the trip home....

Then on Sunday night, I went to dinner with the family that Anne lived with when she was in Ecuador. I took my Nano and was able to sit with Mamita about a half hour showing her pictures. It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, especially when they are in Spanish.

So now that I´ve made so many friends, I must leave and go back to my other life all the while making plans to return soon.

School

I´ve been here for almost 2 weeks so it is finally time for me to write a post about schools. I´ve learned a lot about schools from my teacher who seems to enjoy sharing about her life and her country, all in Spanish of course. My ability to understand Spanish is much better than my ability to speak it. But I think that is usually the case.

In Cuenca, people of means send their kids to private schools. The elementary school that I´ve been attending is a private school sponsored by CEDEI, the organization that is hosting the SU students for their Spanish classes. I´m not sure why they sponsor an elementary school but they do. The school has students from ages 2 through grade 5 and even has classes for special education students. I´ve met a blind student and a down syndrome student there. Parents who do not have students in the school can also bring their students to the school for therapy. Every day I watch the blind student, who is in the third grade, manage his own way around the playground, which is really a big concrete slab. He goes up and down a complete flight of concrete steps by himself.

The teachers in the school that I have met are from the US and Canada. Some have been there for only a few weeks and others have been there for 1 or 2 years. Each class is assigned a National teacher and an International teacher. The National teachers are certified teachers. In fact most of them did their student teaching at the CEDEI school. None of the International teachers that I have met have a degree in education, however I have not met all of the teachers. Most have a degree in psychology. The students in the school study the normal school subjects but they also study English, which is the great contribution of the International teachers. Phil from California, for example, teaches English, gym, and art. The classes that I chose to attend were all conducted in Spanish, mostly because I wanted to use my Spanish skills. I learned about the parts of a friendly letter in Spanish!

The kids who attend the school are adorable and are quite willing to pose for pictures. I took my camera one day and had fun. This week the school received 6 new computers and the students are supposed to begin to use them next week. It sounded to me like they could use some direction in how to use the computers, but the teacher explained that he hoped to install MS Office and some learning games. While I was observing the classes, I was usually thinking about how I could enhance the lesson with some technology. I think this might be a good learning activity for SU education majors who come to study in Ecuador in the future. The CEDEI school is quite an improvement over public elementary schools. The students wear uniforms, are quite engaged, seem very happy, and have an ample amount of play time. Because of the high degree of international teachers, they are exposed to a lot. I have also seen several student teachers at the school, who come from the University of Azuy, which has teacher education programs in special education and early childhood.

Public education is in need of revision (but so is public education in the US). My teacher has been selected to serve on a panel for the new government that will investigation the state of education in Ecuador. She is most unusual in that she has a masters degree. In the past, you only needed a high school education to teach high school but she says that is changing. You only need a masters degree to teach in college. She has taught in public high school for 23 years and currently teaches Spanish in the high school, which includes grammar, writing, and literature. Schools in Cuenca have 3 shifts and students attend either morning (7.30 until 1.30) afternoon or night (6 until 10 pm). My teacher teaches in the night shift and then moonlights teaching private Spanish classes at CEDEI during the day. She has three classes of 60 students each in the high school and talks about how difficult it is to meet the needs of 60 students in a class. She tries to group students into smaller groups but even then the groups are quite large. And the demands of grading are huge. In the school, the students stay in the classroom and the teachers rotate. This means that everyone in the class takes the same courses. No differentiation for math or science or even foreign language, which is English of course. BTW, she explained that the English teacher could barely speak English herself. Needless to say there is no technology in the classroom. The administrators have computers but that is all.

We´ve talked a lot about the belief in the US that students need to learn computer skills to be successful in the 21st century. (All of this in Spanish of course) She agreed but said that at the moment if the students learned to use the computer, they would not have access to use one and that jobs in Cuenca do not demand those skills. I countered that even auto mechanics need to used computers and she retorted that cars in Cuenca are manual. We´ve laughed a lot during these discussions. What a great way to learn Spanish.

Saraguro day 2

If you have not yet read Saraguro day 1, scroll down and read that entry first.

When we arrived at our hotel after dinner it was about 10.30pm. I noticed that I could hear music. It was coming from the town which was down in the valley and our hostel was up the mountain. So we had a great view of the entire valley at night. And with the full moon, the night view was pretty cool. We have finally decided that the music was part of the Pase de Niño (hopefully you read the Paseo de Niño blog first and understand). My teacher explained that among the more poor people this celebration is much larger. And it must have been because the music was hosted by a live DJ and went until 7.30 in the morning. It was so loud that even where we were we could hear it quite loudly. Needless to say, we only slept a bit. I finally got up at 5.30 am and started reading my book.

Our guides had arranged for us to go to a traditional indigenous religious ceremony and explained that there was a a short hike to get there. Totally misrepresented! It took more than an hour to ascend (again straight up with my guide´s ayuda). But we finally arrived to a cave with one side being open to the beautiful view of the Andes and a waterfall cascading down one side. The service lasted about an hour and was indescribable. It is amazing how similar world religions are. There were aspects of the service that were quite similar to the hindu service that I attended once. Briefly, there were flowers in the form of a cross and a fire in the middle. The Shamin thanked the spirits for the earth, sun, fire, and air and for our group. Then the shamin touched each of us to brush away the bad spirits then he blew a drink on each of us to bless us. It was really quite moving and everyone in our group seemed touched. It is nice to be here with college students who are studying the culture because younger students from the US might not have been as respectful. The shamin explained that this ceremony is done four times a year at the equanox and summer/winter solstice. High in the Andes with such a beautiful/peaceful place one could not help but feel closer to nature and the connection of humanity.

The hike down was much the same....narrow path never more than a foot wide and often much less. And during the service it began to rain so now the narrow steps were slippery. A bit of butt sliding helped. Our group kept chanting "buns of steel!" throughout the hike.

After the hike we went into town. Sunday is the big day for the Saraguro market. Their special talent is jewelry but most of it is a bit over the top so I didn´t really shop. The most interesting site ( and me without my camera because of the rain) was at noon when church, opposite the market, ended services. About a hundred people came out of the church, all wearing their indigenous black outfits. What a contrast with the white church. and many were quite old. If I were a National Geographic photographer, I would return next Sunday and document that scene.

Off to lunch...again a traditional indigenous meal. This time more corn (but nothing like we know), wheat (which looked like rice) corn tortella (quite heavy, dense, dry) and cuy (which is guinea pig and very popular here)

FINALLY, and much exhausted and very dirty we got on the bus for the ride home. It was a super experience.

Saraguro day 1

Our group made a weekend trip to Saraguro. It was a four hour ride south on the Pan American highway. Great name for a horrid road. Some of it was dirt, other parts paved but full of pot holes and other parts were under construction. It took 4 1/2 hours to get there by bus but the scenery through the Andes was beautiful.

Saraguro is an indigenous community and according to our guide, no one lives there who is not part of the indegenous community. They all wear the traditional indigenous garb but their particular sect wears all black, to mark their sadness over losing the war with the Spanish 500 years ago.

We stayed in a hostel owned by an indigenous couple who became our guides for the two days. Immediately after dropping our luggage in our rooms (think primitive here but there was a shower with hot water :) we drove into the country and began our hike. Actually climb would have been more accurate and this climb made the Cajas look like a stroll. again, hand holds and strong knees were needed. I quickly ended up in the back where the lady guide was in charge of the rear. Holding out her hand she said "ayuda" and I hesitantly took her hand. She appeared to be about my age and was wearing a dress and what looked like ballet shoes. I reluctantly took her hand and found her to be rock solid. She should prance up the steep inclines as sure footed as a mountain goat. We became fast friends! I´m not sure I would have safely made it up and down without her sure hand.

After 2 hours we finally made it to our destination which was an area in the Inca trail for worship. There were several holes carved in the rock to collect water and watch the reflection of the stars at night. And we got a lesson on their worship of the sun, the land, the importance of the cross. etc.

I´ll spare you the tedious description of my descending, but just know that I¨m better going up than down. After the 4 hour climb we were off to a demonstration of weaving. (Note it is about 7pm now and we´re starving!) The building had about 15 weaving looms for weaving and they sold their products. It was killing me not to buy anything but I´m sure I¨m already over the limit for weight. Beautiful fabrics, rugs, etc.

Finally around 8.30 we were treated to an indigenous dinner. These people eat so healthfully. Full grain everything. No need for metamucil down here. Wonderful potato soup, followed by corn, potatoes, carrots, and chicken. I usually do not eat the meat, now that I´ve seen the meat market.

After dinner the cooks and waiters became the band and we were treated to a wonderful musical performance. Our students began to dance and the evening turned into a lot of fun in spite of exhaustion. Finally our two indigenous guides began to dance too and it was apparent that they dance quite a bit. I even danced with them too and when we sat down, the lady guide (my hiking friend) gave me a big hug. Really cool.