Math Concepts
After a few weeks of successfully ingraining supply and
demand curves and shifts in our minds, we’re happy to move on to “real
economics” and make use of the theories.
We've been exploring the idea that Ecuador’s dollarization has been
successful largely due to the abundance of oil in the region. As Oil Day approaches, we’re thinking quite a
bit about how oil has provided economic freedom for the region (President
Corea’s social programs are now significantly more encompassing) while at the
same time the history and relative abundance have also translated, in a
painfully ironic way, to debt (formerly with the IMF and now with China). Ecuador’s current situation makes for a
perfect case study in many arenas: the effectiveness of
dollarization/Eurozation, the connection between economic and political power
for a nation on the global scale, and the relationship among natural resources,
debt, and economic freedom. Courtney is
now delving into John Perkin’s An Economic
Hitman and beginning to prepare a presentation for the group on business
ethics.
Intermediate Spanish
¡Saludos desde Tena, la entrada de la
Amazonia! Greetings from Tena, the gateway to
the Amazon! Intermediate Spanish is
continuing their efforts hablando más español. Both
the homestays in Agualongo and the Spanish classes with native speakers in
Otavala have provided a wealth of opportunities for building vocabulary and
conversational skills. Along with their intensive
Spanish teacher Juan, the girls
toured the world famous Saturday market in Otavala and practiced bartering in
Spanish for recuerdos to bring home
to family and friends. In the cloud
forest at Yunguilla, Susannah and Kate both helped translate for the group and
did an outstanding job! We’re now
working hard on studying the differences between past and imperfect tenses and
will be putting our knowledge to the test in creating an original series of postales depicting our viaje thus far.
Honors Natural
Science: Biodiversity and Climate Change
After some literally breath-taking hikes, the girls are busy
putting the finishing touches on their unit projects about the various types of
interactions among species. In Yunguilla
we had one of the most memorable classes relaxing on a summit in the Ecuadoran
Paramo. Our guide, Edison, showed us
what deforestation and conservation look like as we gazed from the summit into
the distance where the dense and vivid greens of the primary forest stood in contrast
to the weak saplings and sporadic growth of secondary reforestation. We learned about the pattern of the clouds
and rain caused by the warm coastal air mixing with the cool Andean mountain
air. . .and felt the intense weather effects throughout our weeklong stay. In the jungle, we learned about medicinal
plants, sampled new and delicious exotic fruits, and listened as Gerson
explained the complexities of the rainforest layers. Anne put her Spanish skills to the test and
did a fantastic job asking pertinent questions while researching for her
species project.
Advanced Spanish
Our homestay experience in Agualongo de Quinchinche proved
crucial to the girls' confidence in their existing Spanish skills. Since our focus lies in conversation during
this course, the students were required to complete an oral history interview
with a member of their host family.
Topics ranged from childhood struggles, to wedding traditions, to
bilingual Quichua education; the students wrote polished essays focusing on one
specific story they unearthed in their conversations. They described the event using preterite and
imperfect past tense verbs, and also included potential follow-up questions to
keep their minds on the investigative power of personal communication. We will continue to practice these skills throughout
the semester. As our time in homestays
came to an end, the girls immediately entered into their language immersion
classes in Otavalo. The purpose of these
seminars is to provide the students with the valuable opportunity to learn
Spanish from a native speaker. The
Advanced Spanish class was pleased to spend their four hours daily with a
charismatic and demanding teacher named Washington. Flying through complicated grammar, the girls
loved getting the chance to have "real" conversations about abstract
topics like climate change and Ecuadorian politics. At the end of their mini course, the class
visited the world famous Otavalo street market to practice their bartering and
reinforce their conversational skills. I
had noticed an appreciable increase in the students' confidence and comprehension,
so by the time we arrived in Yungilla, I knew it was time to start
translating! The students demonstrated
their motivation to continue to increase their language skill set by
translating for the group on tours of the cooperative's marmalade and cheese
making facilities. Scout, in particular,
puts forth extra effort to translate whenever she can, and does so with
increasing accuracy! As we navigate our
way through the jungle and over towards the Galapagos, our class is starting to
dive into reading El Alquimista (The Alchemist), by Paulo Coehlo. This novel is a challenging read about
learning on life's journey: a perfect subject of conversation on our trip! I look forward to many intellectual
discussions as part of this ongoing reading assignment while our group finishes
up with Ecuador and moves south into Peru.
Physical Education
Balancing exercise with other activities can be challenging:
in the last few weeks of our trip, we have had to find ways to be creative in
our physical endeavors. While in
Agualongo visiting Quichua families, the girls took part in a
"minga," or community work day, and realized how physically
exhausting it can be to dig, shovel, and move firewood. A couple of longer hikes (around the
community and through cow pastures and over mountain ridges to the neighboring
community) gave us a preview of the PE we can look forward to on the treks in
Peru. In Otavalo, we were excited to
discover a track nearby, which we used for interval running workouts. Dr. Kate has stepped in as a PE teacher on
several occasions to offer yoga sessions in the mornings. In perhaps the group's favorite PE class thus
far this semester, the girls took part in a competitive soccer match in
Yungilla, which yielded a final score of 0-0 and many laughs as well. Rebecca was a standout player in the game,
as she gave all of her cheer-background-inspired energy to her team. As our high altitude hikes approach, we are
now in Tena focusing on cardiovascular endurance and core strength for
long-distance backpacking.
Travel Journalism
Throughout their groupstay experience in Agualongo, the TJ
students maintained a travel log of observations that they noticed about their
host family, the community, or themselves.
This turned out to be an effective assignment to process the experience,
and allowed us to practice the art of making observations without making
assumptions. While continuing our
ongoing discussion of information gathering practices, the students also delved
into conversations regarding the relationship between the press and the
government, and visited the Journalistic Code of Ethics. As we returned to Otavalo, our thoughts moved
towards techniques for writing narrative journalism and the requirements for
our first formal article. The girls excitedly
chose their topics for their first major article: a short piece that maintained
a focus on a specific place that we have visited, and presented a concern of
intriguing aspect about that place.
After a combined writing workshop between the TJ and Literature and
Composition classes, the students carried out a fruitful round of peer
editing. As the deadline for their
article approached, we focused on effective caption-writing for their featured
photos, and the composition of a strong lead.
Check out this fantastic lead by Alizah:
As Ecuador's climate conditions become increasingly
unpredictable, farmers' livelihoods are destabilizing along with the
weather. With roughly one third of the
population employed in agriculture, price fluctuations in the global market
have long dictated the state of Ecuador's employment and economy...
Her article continues, referencing an interview completed
during a recent hike with a local farmer:
Although a seemingly endemic problem, climate change's
impact reaches far beyond the receding borders of the Amazon - all the way to a
small farm in Otavalo, over 350 kilometers away. "When I was younger, the
crops couldn't help but grow," Fabiola Bautista, farmer and mother of two,
laments in Spanish from a lookout above her extensive cornfield. "My grandmother had a bountiful harvest
every week." Bautista, now twenty
seven, has grown up on the family's farm, aiding in planting, harvesting, and
selling their crops. Within the last
decade, as the effects of climate change have proliferated, she has experienced
first-hand the challenges brought on by undefined seasons and unpredictable
weather patterns.
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