December Culture Ecuador

So I decided to come down to Ecuador for the Christmas holiday...just to experience the holiday culture within Ecuador. All of the world I have visited celebrates Christmas (so that is a hint as to where I have not been)....and Ecuador is no different.

Here in Quito people decorate their houses with lights, although not quite as gaudy as that found in the US. The interiors have trees, stockings, and Christmas decor of all types. The malls have glitter and lights as they entice people to buy. But what is different in Ecuador is that people do not 'buy'.... I was at a Christmas family event where 15+ people attended and there was not one gift. Where in America; .prior to Christmas we spend hours hunting for that particular gift that we think someone will like, and most of the time it is just 'another' thing that sits idle most of the year, or fairly soon. And during Christmas or Eve, we spend hours opening up gifts...either ripping through the paper or slowly, the end result is the same. More things to haul back to our house or eventually place in the storage shed or...sell cheap in a garage sale.

But at this family event I attended....no gifts...none....only food of turkey, several types of potatoes, pig, vege's etc etc...and wine. Afterwards....karaoke. And when I say Karaoke, I mean KARAOKE.....in fact, five (5) hours of it. On and on and on and on.... Luckily being the new kid on the block I became exempt, thanks goodness. Oh, this was all on Christmas Eve by the way....

Christmas day....yes, the malls are open but again I hardly see anyone carrying around a bag or exchanging. People walk the mall...eat at the food court...walk and talk. The malls are crowded with little room to park as people just walk and enjoy the company of others.

I cannot say which group (America or Ecuador) obtains more or less satisfaction from Christmas. I am not overly religious and neither are the people I stayed with in Ecuador, so that aspect didn't even come into play. But from being apart of the Eve/day activities....I can honestly say that both groups manage to enjoy their days. Each group brings with it their family culture and they exist and enjoy each other within the frames of their culture.

I do know that I for one....will most probably experience Christmas from my culture as opposed to attempting to enjoy that of Ecuadorian culture. Not that I am smug, just that I too have to recognize that I bring to 'myself' a unique culture when it comes to holidays. In my quest to understand and to experience the culture of Ecuador, it is important to not leave out my culture as being a viable option as well.

Study Abroad at Washington State University

Summer 2011....Study Abroad with Washington State University will offer up to 3 semester credits for internships/work in Ecuador. You will be provided with room and board....excursions, whale watching and data collection opportunities, chances to work in schools and experience Ecuadorian Culture...

One of the negatives about living in the USA is just that....you live in the USA. When compared to other nations we have a false society....and very materialistic. Summer Abroad is a great opportunity to witness life in another country. Eco-Ecuador will give you a chance to experience Ecuador at its purest. This is not a tour trip.....this is a working adventure. Each year with the return of the Humpback whales, the Ecuador economy gets a boost as tourists from around the world come to catch a glimpse of humpback whales. But why just catch a glimpse...? Why not work more closely with several times a week and help out in collecting whale data? ....Why not work within the schools and help to demonstrate about Eco-education, environmental education? .... Do something with your life and help others, help the world.

Our biggest problems in this world are yet to be solved. There is very little we can do about the past or what has led us to 'seeming' climatic changes so there is no use harping on it...but we can begin to take what we have and make a difference for the future...... This starts with 'you'...learn about different cultures, experience them...be a part of them. Build from within and begin to do your part of help those around you.

Nature Photos

If you want....take a look at my bird / nature photos at : http://lmans66.zenfolio.com/

I really enjoy photography and have found digiscoping....this is where you take a spotting scope and hook a camera to the back eyepiece and snap away. I find this almost more enjoyable although a bit more cumbersome. But I feel a bit closer to my subjects as not only do I view them thru the scope first but my images are more up-close of them too.

I remember 15 years ago as I was looking thru a cheap spotting scope I wondered how I could take shots using the scope as a lens. Dah, it took me a while and I am a bit late into this but I have it figured out now~ I have a Swaroski 80mm HD spotting scope which cost a pretty penny, as well as a point and shoot camera or two. It takes quite a bit of photography skills just to get off a solid shot, let alone birding skills to find the right bird at the right time and in the right light etc.... What an enjoyable way to relax and spend time.

Everytime I go to Ecuador I spend time with my friend Steve in Quito who travels with me to Mindo or Cotopoxi etc... My friend Kevin and I do the same thing in Puerto Lopez in Ecuador. Of course....the states are another place I digiscope or take photographs of. Real cool...awesome!

Washington State University Philanthropy Project

I recently returned from Pullman where four students at WSU were successful in raising funds so we can build an eco-library in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador. I really admire what they have accomplished. It is not easy raising funds for 'causes' outside of the US. Most Americans can barely see the need in their own back yard let alone in a world half way away from us~ So, thanks, my hat is off to you all.

Our goal is to match the dollars which WSU students donated to us. With this money we intend to purchase eco-books written in Spanish. We will place these in a school in Puerto Lopez allowing the students an opportunity to further their appreciation of their environment and eco-system. Many things all over the world need to change, we all know that. Change happens over time and by giving these students the knowledge base to draw from in regards to their eco-system, we hope that as they become leaders in their community, we will have helped set the foundation for a solid appreciation of their environment. .........

Social Change

I have taught a class or two with Walden University for 8-9 years... The University, although for-profit....has an emphasis on Social Change. I feel this is important and although I have been a proponent of social change for years, it is good to see an entire organization lead with this in mind.

Walden has highlighted the Foundation in their alumni journal "Walden Ponder"....I am proud of that. The Foundation has been in existence for 4 years and we have slowly evolved into an organization where we support both (a) environmental education and (b) scientific research. Through these two focus points, we have created a bit of social change within the area of Ecuador where we are based. I slowly see change....

In addition, I feel that the Foundation reaches out to others. For instance, every time we bring in a university student from Quito, United States or from other countries, we have added to their understanding of the third world and problems associated with it. In order for the world to change for the good....we need to change from within. As these interns grow into their lives and expand their influence with a community.....it is hopeful that they will always remember their internship experience and begin to promote giving and social change.

Ecuador Birds

Since I am a bird watcher and enjoy hiking around.....I have a collection of some of my better bird shots from my walk-abouts in Ecuador. Some of these are from the Mindo region of Ecuador while an equal number are from the coastal region. You can view these at:
http://lmans66.zenfolio.com/p961186004

Birding in Ecuador is difficult depending on where you bird. For instance, in the Mindo Valley area outside of Quito, this is a very rainforested area with an abundant amount of foliage, thus making it difficult to get the perfect shot. Most of the time you need to have two or three shots pieced together to actually view the entire bird! But there are a few spectacular shots here of hummingbirds and the like. On the other hand, the coastal area...especially isla de la plata, the birds are not as easily spooked and the foliage is sparse. Thus, good birding although the numbers of difference species are not as great.

The sun is an issue in Ecuador. Having the sun is almost a must in any jungle area or even on the coast. But with the sun comes this intense heat and sometimes humidity that drains your body rapidly. Either way...an experience that must be had by any birder.

I use either my 300f4 L series Canon (with or without my 1.4 T/C) or my 80-400 Tokina Lens.

Washington State University Philanthropy Project

Exciting News...WSU's.....International Student Philanthropy Projected selected The Foundation Research Whales as their 2010 Spring Project. Over the course of two months they will solicit funds from local businesses and students to support the Foundation.

Funds will go to the creation of (2) eco-libraries in local schools within the Puerto Lopez area. This is crucial. The Foundation spends a lot of time in local schools promoting environmental education and yet once we leave the schools....the kids are on their own. There is no reading material available to act as a 'follow-up' to those kids more interested in the environment. It is hopeful that creating two eco-libraries available to all students, this will provide not only extended reading material but also a love and appreciation for the environment. Stay tuned...more to come as updates on our projects will be the topic for future blogs.

Interns 2010

Well I am excited.....This coming Summer of 2010 will provide 5-8 interns an opportunity to experience Ecuador at it's purest. Ecuador is still pure....not CostaRicanized, or little America. Puerto Lopez is a small fishing community on the coast of Ecuador and is the breeding grounds for humpback whales during the months of June, July, August and September. Manta Rays are also present off the coast and this is an area of interest for us as well.

Summer of 10 appears to have one student doing a senior thesis (Whitman College) on Rio Ayampe and the Pollution found within. This river is the main source of water for this entire region of Ecuador. Water used for showers, laundry, etc. All drinking water is brought in.....
We will have interns arriving in Ecuador June 17 thru July 8th....another set arriving July 6th thru July 28th. Lastly, two more interns arriving July 13th thru August 3..or there abouts.

Next year....we are on track to offer academic credit thru Washington State University/international studies program. Up to 3 semester credits will be offered and our hopes are that we can involve 10 additional students via this program.

.......jim

Live From Ecuador 2009

Live from ecuador….one of the first of many blogs …..see www.researchwhales.com for more information about the entire program. But for now….blog 1…30th de agosto…

Ecuador—August 30th (does it really matter here?…I mean the date?)

As I sit in my lonely writer’s garrote (or is it garret), and by this I really mean a garrote in some terms….more like an open 4th story veranda overlooking the poverty of Puerto Lopez. Lonely at the top of the world in some sense.

This morning, I am up early…6 or so and rumble out of bed and boil some water. ….I gaze out of the side window and notice this family slowly waking up. In the size of a small shed, there eventually tumble out 6 children and 1 mother as they each venture to the outhouse in the back…..I witness a cat waking up as well on the roof, taking a huge stretch and watching it’s owners walk back and forth across 20 yards to take a pee. But as I watch this morning ritual unfold, I can’t help but see how little of a difference there really is between the cat and the humans. Each has a ritual; each takes a pee….each stretches before settling down or in or whatever. How strange and yet we as humans are inclined to see us as better than the mere cat. Even more so in a first world country where we have indoor plumbing…..

Another interesting thought was how in this poverty stricken world, they do not feel poverty; they merely feel themselves within this day. They look ahead, just for now. Whether it is the man coming home from a night of fishing with one fish strung on his wire to feed his family or the little 10 year-old girl I now see who is pretending to dance in a grand ball…..she is behind some trees, over there…..see….next to the outhouse. She is dancing and swaying a blanket and kicking her shoes to mimic that of a dance. How funny since I can remember my kids doing the same and we were in a first world country. Yet here, in this dirt floor of a home she immersed from, made of reeds and tied together with slats of thin wood, she is mimicking the ball, the fiesta, and the dance…that will occur tonight as today is the big fiesta. She is simply having fun, all the while. just like I can remember my kids doing,….always on the lookout for an older sibling or heavens forbid and adult….watching her dance away as she might do in a few years with the young men of this town. But does she know poverty…? I don’t think so…..she is happy, she awoke and did what a child in any place would do so poverty to her is a distant cousin.

The mother is now tossing out water from a pan out of the open uncovered window…..breakfast I suppose. Not a pan but a pot so what is for breakfast? No idea but is this any different than a mother in a first world country making a morning feast for her brood? Again, has no idea of poverty…..just existence as in some sense we all just exist within our own world, first or third world.

Today is the big fiesta….oh, there goes a Vermillion Flycatcher, a bright red bird…..I see them all over the place and I take them for granted. But that bird is one that many in the states would love to catch a glimpse of and yet here in this small lovely community, I sight them almost at will, along with green parrots flying about. Amazing, that regardless of where we are….such as in the states, we dream of being here (or our own personal brand of here, wherever that might be) where that red bird is so coveted. As bird lovers we can capture the moment of this sighting and log this occasion in our book of “birds we have seen”…yet again here, I take that bird for granted, as much so as I take the chickens which wander around for granted. I better check in my listing of birds if I have a chicken crossed out but …is it a bird or poultry? I better check, for I wouldn’t want my bird list to be inflated with counts.

Anyways…the huge fiesta today, all day (parade in morning) and party at night. But as I watch the world open here from my garrote I see a day like all others. Men in their motorcycle taxis beginning to drive to work although they drive all day, children off in uniforms to school and far off I see some of those same children banging away on drums of sorts in a distant school preparing for the parade. Of course the day will be shortened considerable but no big deal for whatever is not done today is simply there for tomorrow and the next day and such. No stopping progress, but that begs the question of what is progress. In these folk’s minds, living from day to day is progress, right….and who is to say that is not the way we should live?

So fiesta day….in schools kids bang away at these drums forever….a band of drums and little else or if there is, they will soon become drowned of all noise, and I mean noise. Schools here practice much….and what they do practice they practice all day for hours and in unison. Yesterday as I walked into town and passed one of these schools, (passing can be anywhere from next to–to that of blocks away as this unison noise carries along ways) I became aware of the entire school yelling out the awe-inspiring learning of 1-2-3….over and over again. This is not a primary school but a secondary one….1-2-3-, ……1-2-3…over and over. Must be some hidden learning in that I thought to myself as an educator. But yes, there is, but not unless you put yourself within this world. In order to survive…..whether as a fisherman in one of the boats and amongst your co-fisherman in the boat, or a lady constantly doing laundry or perhaps a person who has job which requires them to stand all day and do nothing (think?…what is think), just exist ….that 1-2-3 builds a sense of comrade—all of us,….all of us….are in this together and we as a community support the others. So true here…this is one big 1-2-3 in progress. No one is alone, they all watch for each other, help. support and exist within this environment so to teach (I doubt if the educators here have thought of this) in unison and to continue to practice the words yelled out as loud as one can for hours…1-2-3….well, that is learning here right. Do they need much more? Or is “that” the cat’s meow for to learn much more would almost make one a non-entity here in this town for you couldn’t simply “stand” to exist here. Too much knowledge is not a good thing here.

I always have pondered, what do people dream about in Bangladesh? Do they dream? I think I have answered my own ponderment….sure they dream. Just as the girl dancing is dreaming of being in the ball, the fisherman is thinking of what others will say in passing as they admire his great catch of one for the day….or perhaps other mother’s are in envy of how the mother next door tends to her flock, washes the laundry etc. Dreaming is universal, as is counting to 1-2-3 in unison, whether here in a poverty strickened country or perhaps that of our first world country as we all count 1-2-3 in some sense as we trudge off to work and earn money so we can spend it on something purchased at Walmart. Oh, thank god for small wonders….no Walmarts down here,….they are not needed for the endless peddlement of junk only tends to change a culture and as I look over this bright morning, what is there to change.

My battery is about to die…..but so what….it will come back and I will return another time to my garrote atop of the world in some sense here…..Another day to tap out words of wisdom as life in Puerto Lopez slowly unfolds….doesn’t evolve, but does unfold. jim

www.researchwhales.com