Dos días desde que despegamos

Last summer, I went to Valparaíso, Chile for a Spanish language program which fulfilled an immersion within my Spanish major at Ohio State. I practiced Spanish, the beautiful language that I had spent many years learning in the classroom, made some amazing friends from all over the world, and increased my cultural competency. I still miss the empanadas pino, the metro ride to class, the warm and friendly people, and the gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean that met the edge of the city. This study abroad experience further inspired my personal goals to see the world and develop my Spanish language skills. When I landed in the U.S., my mind was on any possible way to acquire more stamps on my passport.

Street art in Valpo

In September, a good friend of mine forwarded me an e-mail about a service-learning trip to Ecuador, coordinated by the Higher Education and Student Affairs program at Ohio State. It was described in the e-mail as follows:

"The unique element of this experience is the focus placed on the knowledge, wisdom and voice of children and elders in a nearby community. While the Ohio State undergraduates and graduate students will provide language tutoring and complete work on other community-defined projects, the most important work will be listening and learning from the young people and their elders about how culture is exchanged and community stories and knowledge are preserved and handed on to future generations. Ohio State University students will learn how to create those spaces for sharing and empowering the voice of the young people. The graduate students will also learn to facilitate international experiences and examine the complexities of administering service-learning abroad."

Ohio State

I remember thinking that the program was meant to be. I plan to pursue a master's degree in Higher Education, and this program would have us travel with several graduate students in Ohio State's HESA program. It was in Ecuador, a new corner of South America that I hadn't yet seen apart from a CBS Sunday Morning special about American expats who retire to Cuenca because of quality real estate. The price of the program was affordable due to an unexpected grant that I planned on saving for an academic experience. Lastly, and most importantly, the program incorporated a service partnership, something that I didn't have the chance to experience in my relatively selfish, albeit personally beneficial, trip to Chile. I applied to the program not knowing what to expect, and a few weeks later, I found out that I was actually going to Ecuador for the month May. 

As a part of the program, the undergraduate students were required to take a Leadership in Community Service class, in which we spent a lot of time learning about leadership theory, routinely serving our communities at various community partnership sites, and reflecting on how our experiences were affecting the sites, either positively or negatively. We have also gotten the chance to get to know each other through the class, and I am looking forward to building relationships with my peers as we begin to build a partnership with the indigenous school in Cahuazhun Grande. I have already enjoyed being in a group of students who are also passionate about education in some form or another, yet all of very different past international experiences.

A Google Image of Cuenca

We leave in two days! The departure date is creeping up so quickly.
Anticipations: Practicing Spanish, meeting the university students at the University of Cuenca, my host family (a pastry chef and her two-year-old daughter!), and the students at Cahuazhun Grande, food, flight, all of the adventure that comes with travel.
Concerns: altitude sickness, general travel sickness, and packing correctly.

Check back to this blog for photos, stories, and more throughout my time in Cuenca!