La Capilla Del Hombre: Guayasamin

There is a joke amongst Ecuadorians that when God was dividing the goods of the world he gave the soil, the sun, the plants and all other resources necessary for success to Ecuador. However, to balance it out he gave them the most unproductive people... It is for this very reason that Ecuador is still considered to be a "developing country". For those of you reading at home (especially my sister Melissa) I am not going to sugar coat the crime and danger that swarms Ecuador. There are broken beer bottles that surround the walls of my property to keep out intruders. Every time I am in our car my host parents refuse to start driving until I lock the door. My host mother has been robbed of all of her possessions six different times in her life. I am not sure I will be able to bring my laptop or camera to school because I fear being robbed on the bus and I attend the nicest university in the country. Situations like this make me realize that my life in the United States has been more luxurious than most could imagine. Every time I don't have internet connection I can't possibly be annoyed because I know that less than 6% of all Ecuadorians have access to the internet. Let us take a moment to laugh at American shows like "Survivor" where, like Daniel Tosh points out, sheltered and spoiled Americans are challenged to survive in conditions that most people in the world live in every day of their lives.

Rookie mistake numbero dos: Cotopaxi is the name of the tallest mountain surrounding Quito... it is NOT a local supermarket, Jessie. I also learned this morning that the reason the bus drivers will start driving while people are half way on the bus is because they are in an unspoken competition against the other bus drivers. Whoever can drive the fastest can cut in front of the others and pick up more people. This just reeks of lawsuit but here... anything goes. Moving on to my coordinator here at USFQ, Amanda. If Superman and Mrs. Doubtfire had a love child it would be Amanda. After every sentence she refers to us as "my children" or "my students" and explained to us today that Chinese people are so thin because they can't pronounce their R's. "Yo quiello alloz" certainly won't get you rice... good thing I have yet to see any Asians. She also explained to us that Pepe is short for Jose... Paco and Pancho are short for Francisco... and Nacho is short for Ignacio. I never would have made those connections just like I didn't realize that Enchiladas carry that name because they originated in Chile... bet you didn't know that either.

Perhaps one of the best parts of today was hearing a group of young children singing The Beatles classic, "Good Day Sunshine" in English outside of our classroom when it was far too early for me to be excited about grammar. We got a chance to walk around campus which is absolutely breathtaking (picture below). Yes, that is where I go to school... weird right? Marta prepared lunch for me today at home which consisted of a soup made out of avacado, potato, and platanos to start. We then ate tilapia, lentils, rice, and homemade limonada. In Ecuador, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, which is wonderful during lunch; however, I don't know how long I will last eating bread and cheese for dinner.

The group reconvened at La Capilla Del Hombre which is an art exhibit dedicated to the work of Oswaldo Guayasamin who may be my new favorite artist. Guayasamin's work is a tribute to not only the marginalized and oppressed in Latin America but all over the world. Guayasamin was known for traveling to secluded indigenous villages throughout Central and South America and capturing the essence of the struggle of the gente. He believed in a world of peace... a world where mankind could all hold hands. His inability to find such a reality in this world is portrayed through his dark yet realistic paintings of hunger, coldness, and solitude. An example of his work is below (along with a saying I really loved) but I highly encourage you to visit La Capilla Del Hombre if you are ever in Quito. Well worth it.

That's all for now folks...