Day 1: Successful Arrival!

¡Hola a todos!  Parents, family, and friends, you can sleep well tonight – we have arrived in Ecuador safely with no issues!  Praise God!

After arriving in Ecuador, we were bussed to the guesthouse we are staying in at Quito.  We just finished dinner (9:30) and afterwards had a really great introduction to how much our group “wreaks” American.  Something that is as simple as counting to 5 on your fingers can be done many different ways depending on where you are in the world.  This simple exercise opened our eyes to Eric’s point about the way Americans view things differently.  A great example is time.  We think of time in a straight line.  On a timeline, past years are “history,” “gone,” “lost.”  They hold memories, but we can never get them back.  In Ecuador, the people think of time as a circle.  If they don’t get to something today, the opportunity will present itself tomorrow and they can do it then.  If they don’t plant their corn today, they can do it tomorrow.  If they don’t do it next week, they can do it the next week.  Every day is a revolution of time and no time is “lost” to them.  In the States, if a farmer doesn’t plant their crops by a certain date, they are out for the season.  They can’t plant it later.  This is because we live in a “cold climate.”  We have seasons that come and go and with them, certain responsibilities that we have to complete.  In Ecuador, the people don’t live this way.  It is easy to forget which month it is because there are no seasons here.  They live in a “hot climate.”  Time is circular.  It’s not lost here. 

Another aspect of culture that’s different that we discussed was the importance of work.  In America, people live to work.  They go into work everyday for a certain number of hours, and when five o’clock rolls around, everyone packs up and goes home.  The paychecks are fairly constant and reliable.  We live to work.  In Ecuador, people work to live.  They go to work, work until they’ve made enough money for the day, and then quit.  And they do it again tomorrow…and the next day…and the day after that because time is circular.  This also reflects in the way they regard their relationships.  At 10:30, when it’s time for a break, no matter where they are in their work, they will stop.  No work should ever get in the way of the building of a relationship with a friend.

All in all, I think we all have a lot to think about tonight.  The conversation challenged us to acknowledge that the world isn’t as we view it.  Our worldview isn’t wrong.  But it’s not the only right one either.  This was a great intro into our time in this foreign country and helped us realize that we are the ones that need to change our mindset as we travel into an alternative worldview.

Thanks so much for prayers and support!  Since it’s my turn to write the blog post, and it’s the only form of communication I have with people back home, I just wanted to say hi to my family.  I love you lots and I’m missing you tons!  Mom, thanks for the package and care that went into contacting people and the time it took to write everything.  Although it took all of my self control to not open it early, it was worth it.  Thanks!

Also special howdy to the MLA swim team.  Love you guys, miss you, and keep swimming hard! Bye for now everyone! <3

-Sydney Asselin

Bright and early this morning!

Finally here!!

Dinner together

Dishes crew! :)