First entry

I flew into Quito last Friday with no complications.  I shared the flight from Houston to Quito with two other Trent students and upon our arrival in Ecuador we were picked up by Maria, our non-academic co-ordinator.

Our harvest hike

By this time it was about midnight.  We drove through the city observing the baron urban landscape.  I was reminded of my trip to Nicaragua - densely packed businesses on every stretch of blacktop protected by brick walls and steal gates lined with a combination of spikes, barbed-wire or broken glass to avoid the risk of robbery.  Much brighter than Managua, but it definitely isn´t Minneapolis.  The metropolitan stretches for miles to the East and West, with few skyscrapers and a rich diversity of people, architecture, perspectives and emotions.

Pencan

The first week is our week of orientation: going over safety concerns, cultural differences, details in our class schedule, warning us about street dogs and telling us to bathe regularly.  Apart from this we have plenty of time to wander the streets of Quito, in search of Vegetarian food and crafts made in Ecuador.  In total there are 17 students, about half of which are from Trent while the other half are from other Canadian Universities.  I am one of 5 boys and I am the only person in the program who is not from Canada.

On Sunday morning the group went to visit a small living community on the Edge of Quito called ¨Pumaski.¨  We were greeted with a song and a short lesson in Quichua, one of the indigenous languages spoken in the Andean region.  After this, we took a short hike to observe the harvest of a sacred plant called Pencan.  Resembling an enourmous Aloe plant, Pecan has many uses.  The leaves of the plant can be made into anything from the roof of a house to a belt or a pair of sandals and it secretes a delicious nectar that is rich with Calcium and other vitamins.  As one of the young men cut into "heart" of the plant resembling a pre-historic over-growth, he spoke to it.  He thanked it for its sacrifice, for giving him nutrients and sustenance.  From the time one begins to harvest the "blood" of this plant, it produces 8 liters of nectar a day for three months until it expires.

Bascilica

After returning to their living quarters, we feasted on a 3 course meal of quinoa soup, salad and a rich chocolate cake.  The entire meal was vegan, oil-free and created from local, native plants.  The entire community is very conscious of what they consume, honoring what they take and taking only what they need.  Normally this lifestyle is associated with isolation, but it was incredible to see this beating heart on the edge of an enormous metropolis, living sustainably while maintaining strong links with the community, hosting events and teaching Quichua lessons to those interested.  I felt warm to be in the presence of such communal wisdom.

Later that night, Carlos, an Ecuadorian friend of mine from Trent, took me and a few others out to see another perspective on the city.  We went to the top of a large hill (of which there are no shortage in the Highlands) upon which stood an enormous statue of the Virgin Mary.  From there we were able to see the whole city at night; a stretch of lights spanning through a valley that winds through colonies of mountains on both sides.  Quito is quite beautiful to look over.  I had the opportunity to do this again when visiting Old Quito, climbing to the top of a mammoth Basilica, standing in a tower over looking a never ending river of densely packed cement-brick buildings.

El Virgen

Touring Old Quito brings about conflicting emotions.  Full of churches, museums and a wide array of colonial architecture, there is not doubt that it is beautiful, but it a sight of ominous beauty.  Though intricate, colorful and sometimes epic, it is still deeply rooted in a painful history of conquest and genocide.  The living history that plagues the American continent seems easily, yet shamefully, hidden in the United States.  Here this specter is more opaque, and being a white person, wealthy enough to obtain a higher education, travel abroad and explore far-away places, I cannot consider myself entirely separate from this colonial legacy.

Our view