Adrian~

Prior to travelling to Ecuador, I had many assumptions about the Ecuadorian people and how they live their lives here. Some of which including, the people are very culture oriented, they play futbol, the children are harworking and independent, theres beautiful women, etc. And most of these assumptions were on the right track, except for one I had of assuming food here isnt too good, and ive discovered that the food here is bomb,lol!

One assumption I had was that the people here have less material values, as we from Portland would think anyways. While living in Yunguilla with my host-family, I have seen how well my family among others operate with less material things and values, and Ive seen how happy they can be and are with less material values. Sure my family owns a television and a dvd player, but thats not what brings and keeps them together. the bond they get and grow comes more from the family sitting all together at a dining table three times a day eating and conversating together as a family. The bond and happiness comes when they work hard as hell together to earn a living and provide for themselves. These people wake up early in the morning around 5am to get an early start on the work day. They milk cows, collect dozens of bags of coal, do strenuous gardenwork in their family garden, and even build fences amond many other things. Ive gained such a deeper appreciation for the lives these Ecuadorians live, and have seen and felt for myself what honest hard work is.

After a long work day, around 4 or 5 everyone meets at the square, and plays futbol and ecua-volley together. The futbol field isnt in the greatest-fine tuned condition, but the joy and laughter comes from everyone in the small village-community gathering together and enjoying each others company. These peoples love and bond and happiness comes from simply being together and giving a shit about each other. They all have their own roles and duties in the village and they all work together to make a living for each other, and I really respect and appreciate their strength and determination! I hope that we in the states can see the privelidges that we have as great privilidges and blessings to have, but that we must rely on each other being together in unity and build a bond and happiness together that way. We have some fine examples of that in the people of Yunguilla!

Roger~

Roger

Before coming to Ecuador, I assumed that the people here had a stronger family bond. It just seemed like thats how things would be in a place where the materialistic world hasn´t infected the communioty. A little more than I expected, the people here are all about family as well as community. In the Amazon I recognized the strength of family and community through their minga. In the minga that we witnessed the production and delivery of a dug-out canoe, families of the whole community took part in doing something, whether it was carrying the canoe, handing out chiche (an alcoholic beverage), or supervising and leading the delivery.

At my homestay family here in Yungilla, they do everything as a family. They are all assigned some type of job to keep the house clean or stomaches satisfied and I haven´t heard grumbling about doing any of these tasks. I really admire how they all willingly take turns to care for the younger children and how much work and effort they put into everything they do. We have a lot to learn from these people here and I look forward to bringing back their ways and voices as best as I can.

Flor~

While staying in our homestays I notice that families wash their clothes by hand against a carved out stone placed above a basin of water, while I have a washer and drier at home where I simply place the detergent. Then I realize that people use the rivers around Ecuador to get the job done.

Running around a soccer field with children as clouds of smoke consume the surroundings. So focused on the game and the pure joy of playing we forget that there isn,t a blade of grass around, we only remember our bliss.