So I have to head back to Riobamba soon, although as you can see from the countdown I´ve put up to the right I won´t be there much longer. I really like being in Quito this weekend, and being able to discuss politics and philosophy with my host mom here. One of the things I most enjoyed talking about was machoism, assertive or aggressive manliness; get ready, this is gonna be a lesson-y blog.
I already knew that machoism in Ecuador is pretty bad; in 2006 42% of all Ecuadorian women had experienced violence in their life. What startled me during my discussion with my host mom was that she felt that women were to blame, because they would not defend or stand up for themselves like she has done with her own spouse in the past and because men are by nature macho. Fortunately we came to the conclusion that since machoism is learned behavior from parents its really a societal problem.
Now my mom said that we dont have that sort of problem in the US, and I was inclined to agree, certainly not to the extent in Ecuador. But then I decided to rethink that. At first I couldnt really think of any examples, until I started to think about it more like racism. I´m sure all of you already know about how racism is still active in US society today, especially through subtle stereotyping, and I realized machoism persists in the US in a similar manner. Nowadays a lot of the old stereotypes are being proven way wrong: women CAN drive, women CAN play sports, effetively women CAN do anything men can do and better. But I think there is an underlying notion that women are still supposed to be somehow fragile and dainty on top of that, and moreover, men are not supposed to be this way. However, when I think about it I consider myself rather fragile and dainty. Even I feel that statement is somewhat strange, and I´m sure there´s something uncanny about it for many of you as well. I ask why?
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
My study abroad program has coordinated a thanksgiving day celebration for us today in Quito, which is where I am now, back with my family there. Ill be heading back to Riobamba Saturday, so Im going to have some free time in Quito, which will be nice. Think I might try to finish up my souvenir shopping...
Uploading videos is long
Im amazed I was able to do it so easily in Quito. When I was uploading the vido of my tv interview the cafe closed early cuz I was the only one in it, just waiting for that thing to load. Instead, I have uploaded some pictures of my tv interview along with a snow angel I made yesterday on Chimborazo, the largest volcano in Ecuador. There was so much snow it reminded me of home... and then it was sunny today and I realized I dont really miss snow at all.
To elaborate some things, the community health department of the hospital i work in is also the public relations department, so my coordinator had the tv interview on one of the two local channels, and decided to bring me and the other student to talk about what we did. I was of few words, naturally since it was in Spanish.
Also, the video of me getting rubbed with eggs. Yeah if you havent watched that yet you should, its educational and funny. The process is called ´limpia con huevos´ or cleaning with eggs, although its also a diagnostic. The eggs are supposed to absorb ones negative energy so the lady in the video shakes the eggs to figure out what is wrong with me. The diagnosis: mal aire, or bad, evil air, which that day was the cause of a headache I didnt know I had. Fun fact: it was also the cause of my stomach problems in punin according to my mom there, so she did the same thing to me one night. She thought I got it from the cemetery I went to earlier that night. Personally I prefer ´limpia con plantas´ or cleaning with plants; it smells nicer and at the end the yachak, or medicine man, breaths fire at you to clear away the negative energy, which I feel is more thorough.
To elaborate some things, the community health department of the hospital i work in is also the public relations department, so my coordinator had the tv interview on one of the two local channels, and decided to bring me and the other student to talk about what we did. I was of few words, naturally since it was in Spanish.
Also, the video of me getting rubbed with eggs. Yeah if you havent watched that yet you should, its educational and funny. The process is called ´limpia con huevos´ or cleaning with eggs, although its also a diagnostic. The eggs are supposed to absorb ones negative energy so the lady in the video shakes the eggs to figure out what is wrong with me. The diagnosis: mal aire, or bad, evil air, which that day was the cause of a headache I didnt know I had. Fun fact: it was also the cause of my stomach problems in punin according to my mom there, so she did the same thing to me one night. She thought I got it from the cemetery I went to earlier that night. Personally I prefer ´limpia con plantas´ or cleaning with plants; it smells nicer and at the end the yachak, or medicine man, breaths fire at you to clear away the negative energy, which I feel is more thorough.
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