Before we left for the Galapagos, I wanted to make sure I sent out all of my postcards (all thirteen of them). I haven’t asked my host family for much help checking my Spanish homework, but I was sending a postcard to my high school Spanish teacher (in Spanish, por supuesto!), so I wanted the grammar to be absolutely perfect. I wrote out my little blurb on a piece of notebook paper and when I was finished I asked my host mom to check it.
My post card went something along the lines of:
Hi Senor,
I know you’ve heard from my brother that I’m in Ecuador right now. How is my brother doing in your class by the way? Doing all of his homework I hope? The people here listen to Juanes! I also thought you would find this interesting: I’ve tried guinea pig and llama here and they’re delicious! Thank you for making this trip possible.
Muchas Gracias,
Laura
I’m not sure if I wasn’t clear with my host mom that I wanted her to check it for grammatical mistakes, but she took my pen and “corrected” what I had written into this:
Hi Senor,
I’m in Ecuador; it’s a beautiful country with so many different things! I’m staying in Cuenca, the best city in Ecuador. The buildings are gorgeous, and the people are really nice. There are also 4 rivers that run through Cuenca, adding to the city’s beauty. I’ve tried llama and guinea pig (Cuenca makes the best guinea pig there is!) and they are both delicious! Thank you for making this trip possible.
Muchas Gracias,
Laura
Looks a little different, doesn’t it? I’m a little offended that my host mom thought she could pull a fast one on me and totally change what I wanted to say. I thought it was absolutely hilarious when I read it over. They said two completely different things! Both of course are true, but very different.
One thing is clear from this instance: my host mom is incredibly proud to be a Cuencana (a woman that lives in Cuenca). She wanted to make sure that I included as much as possible on that tiny post card about how wonderful Cuenca is. I thought the pretty picture on the front of the card did that aspect of my trip justice, but she obviously was not in agreement.
She is just one example of how proud the people here are to be from their hometowns. We had family stay with us who were from the country’s capital, Quito, and they religiously told me that Quito was the best city in Ecuador (that put me in a tight spot around my host mom). After traveling over a decent portion of the country, it is easy to see why Ecuadorians are so proud of their respective provinces: everywhere you go is distinctly different!
The country is split up into three parts: the Oriente (Amazon), the Sierra (where Cuenca is), and the Coast (including the Galapogos). All three parts have a completely different climate and feel to them. These past two months have seemed like I’ve traveled to a dozen different countries rather than just one. Everyone would like to believe that the city they live in is the best, and when you live in a place with so much to offer, it’s pretty easy to be proud!
However, I think because there is such a stress on regional pride, it dilutes nationalism. The people from Quito believe that their city and way of life is the best, while the people from Cuenca claim that the only way to live is to be Cuencano/a! I think that the regional diversity of Ecuador is part of what makes Ecuador unique, but at the same time divides the country greatly as a nation.
