Time is flying by and students are settling into a new rhythm here in Quito between classes and a new life with their host families. The omicron wave is beginning here in Ecuador and we’re continuing to make adjustments as we go along including doing many of this week’s class sessions outside.
Monday morning, ready for first day of classes!
Generally during our “study” half of the term we run spanish classes in the mornings and have additional activities, lectures, discussions in the afternoons. Silvia conducting spanish class.Monday afternoon the clouds rolled in and we began our series related to Ecuadorian and Andian history. We usually invite one of Nina’s colleagues from the Universidad Andina to join us for this session, but unfortunately his schedule didn’t allow. So Nina led our first of three history sessions, providing a pre-columbian, Incan and Spanish conquest overview. Each day we have classes here at the Quito headquarters of our partner organization, la Fundación para la Sobrevivencia del Pueblo Cofán. FSC is a non-profit organization that works to preserve and fight for indigenous rights of the Cofán peoples. The Cofán are among the oldest surviving indigenous cultures in the Ecuadorian Amazon located mostly in the north eastern regions of Ecuador and southern Columbia. Caleb helping students with setting up CLARO phones and WhatsApp chats.
Communication and technology is one of the ways the program has continued to evolve over the course of 50 years of SST and changes the way we interact with our students, families, partners and organizations. Letters, emails, now Whatsapp texting and voice messaging! Loli’s spanish classTuesday afternoon Katy Alvarez, a professor at the Universidad Central provided our 2nd of 3rd history session, an excellent summary of colonial Ecuador and independence movements from Spain. María Teresa, teaching her spanish classAs a Wednesday afternoon tradition we all headed over to Casa Goshen neighborhood for a time of reflection and conversation in the park. There is a lot that happens informally, but we also try to create a designated time for group processing. Thursday afternoon we invited our good friend Jonathan Minchala to give a talk related to theology and religion in Ecuador and Latin America more broadly. He’s a high school literature teacher but has a passion for theology and religious studies. He has a very interesting and relevant take on the intersection between liberation theology and indigenous spirituality. He’s really dynamic and entertaining and we all enjoyed time with him.Claire and a new friend. There are several Cofan families who live in other residences within the Foundation compound where we have classes. Friday we took a break from our normal schedule and headed down to the historic center of Quito as a fun application for much of what we’ve been hearing and learning this week. Quito is among one of the oldest cities in Latin America and just being downtown makes you feel connected to the past. El Museo de la Cuidad (Quito City Museum)La Basilica It’s impossible to separate Ecuador’s history from the complex history of the Catholic church. The Basilica is actually one of the most recent churches in Quito, “completed” in 1985. Many of the oldest catholic churches began construction in the 1500s often on top of indigenous sacred sites.
