New Year's in Ecuador

By Chloe Lacouture

     Happy New Year from Manna Project International to you! As our volunteers and community members celebrate this holiday, it is important to appreciate all of the amazing traditions that Ecuador has in store for the celebration of the new year. Some traditions are similar to those preformed in the US, such as lots of fireworks and spending time with family. Others are unique and involve the whole community getting together to celebrate.

      One of the most popular New Year’s traditions in Ecuador is the burning of a family’s “año viejo” (old year) or monigote. Ecuadorians fill old clothes with sawdust to create these figures that can look like a real person or an imaginary character with the addition of a mask. The monigote figures represent the old year that is burned in a bonfire at the stroke of midnight. Families sometimes create their monigotes to look like hated politicians that they hope will not be around next year. Some monigotes represent more traditional values, relating to religion or a personal meaning created by the family members. Some are purely for fun, such as cartoon characters and superheroes! Communities or neighborhoods may have a competition for who has made the best monigote, some even involve cash prices that go towards the drinking fund for the celebration. Los años viejos is a truly incredible experience for people with a great view of the city at midnight. Fires light up the night and people can be found dancing and jumping over the flames into the new year!

    The bonfires never run out of fuel on New Year’s! The next tradition is to throw a letter into the fire that contains a list of all the things you hope to leave behind in the “old year.” Many people write about any hardships they have had or things that have stressed them out. Others have made it a tradition to write wishes down and burn those instead, in the hope that they will come true next year!

    Another popular tradition in Ecuador is “Las 12 Uvas” (The 12 Grapes). At midnight, each person eats twelve grapes, making a wish before each bite. While the tradition originally symbolized the 12 apostles, people now wish for happiness, wealth, or anything else they desire. 

    If you ever visit Ecuador for New Year’s make sure you pack underwear that comes in every color of the rainbow! The color of your underwear will decide your fate for the upcoming year! Well, not entirely, but many believe that the color can symbolize what you hope to have in the new year. For example, yellow symbolizes luck and prosperity, while red symbolizes love and passion.

    Finally, a tradition that is perfect for the current circumstances we face during this pandemic: dreaming of traveling again. Hopeful travelers will run around their homes or neighborhoods while carrying an empty suitcase on New Year’s Eve. This tradition is a fun way to burn off some energy and wish for life to bring you many adventures next year!

   There are many more traditions that can be found in different parts of Ecuador and can change from family to family. New Year’s is an important holiday all over the world because it brings people together to reminisce on the old year and make wishes and goals for the next year. Celebrating the new year in Ecuador is a perfect way to learn more about the culture and create memories of many amazing sites throughout the night!

Befriending My Language Exchange Partner

By: Muntaha Islam

At Manna Project International, we have a great program in which we virtually connect with an Ecuadorian who would like to practice English every week. As a Floridian who continuously comes into contact with Hispanic culture, especially Puerto Rican and Cuban peoples, participating in the Language Exchange Program here at Manna has benefited me tremendously. I have benefited from practicing my Spanish-speaking with every meeting. My partner and I have even agreed to meet outside of Manna and visit the other’s country (I live in the United States whilst she resides in Ecuador). I adore our many meetings and we never run out of things to talk about. I have learned so much about her life, as she lives quite an adventurous one going bungee jumping, cycling through the mountain paths, being a honey harvester, and riding horses! My partner and I have a lot in common, as we both enjoy making beaded jewelry, drinking tea with honey, and playing with animals. Our interest in the other’s language allows for us to build our language skills in an incredible way, introducing literature, songs, and other media. 

        In the United States, I have noticed that language learning takes on a role as some sort of an academic necessity rather than a desire to experience another culture. The language exchange program feels like a great friendship, in which you befriend a stranger with the interest of language-learning as a foundation for a strong bond. 

Another benefit to speaking to a friend in the target language is shaping your mind to think in more dynamic ways. As an immigrant, I can tell you that the way in which I think whilst speaking my mother tongue (Bengali) and the way in which I think whilst speaking English is completely different! The language itself is a culture in its own, as it models your thoughts and perceptions. Languages change how you see yourself! In the Kuuk Thaayorre language, spoken by the Thaayorre peoples of Australia, it has sixteen words for absolute cardinal directions rather than words related to the subjective sense such as ahead or left. Such usage moulds the Thaayore people to instinctively recognize their place on the globe simply by how their language programs their very senses! Another interesting note is that in Bengali if you were to bruise your knee, you’d say “আমার হাঁটুতে চোট পড়েছে”, which translates to “my knee bruised itself”. In opposition, in English, you’d declare, “I hurt my knee!”; “my knee hurt itself” doesn’t fit into the grammatical structure. In English, the hurting action gets blamed upon the individual, whereas Bengali blames the knee! 

        In my journey of learning Spanish, I have discovered how descriptive and explicit my thoughts whilst speaking and formatting sentences. It is a very explanatory and sensational language, where how one feels, their opinions, and their perceptions are clearly worded as subjective. The language exchange program at MPI has certainly created an interest in the epistemology behind languages for me!

Ecuadorian Ceviche

By: Linda Dillon

Watch Linda’s video on how to make ceviche here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty8pcrC-2Jk&feature=youtu.be

Ceviche is usually made from fresh raw fish that is cured in citrus juices; however, it can also be made with shrimp and/or octopus. Ceviche is very popular in the Pacific coastal regions of western Latin America and is often eaten as an appetizer. It is served everywhere from street stands to expensive restaurants.

The origin of ceviche is disputed between Peru and Ecuador, as both countries have an amazing variety of fish and shellfish, so it could easily have come from the ancient Inca civilizations of Peru and Ecuador. The technique of macerating raw fish and meat in vinegar, citrus and spices, this process is called escabeche and was brought to the Americas from Spain. It is also linked to the Muslim heritage in Spanish cuisine. However, there have been archeological records which suggest that ceviche may have been consumed in Peru and Ecuador nearly two thousand years ago. 

Every Latin American country makes ceviche a bit differently, placing their own touch of individuality! For example, in Mexico, ceviche is topped with avocado, jalapeno, and hot sauce; Peruvian Ceviche is traditionally drier and served with cooked potato slices; while in Ecuador, ceviche is accompanied with fried green plantains or plantain chips called “chifles”, popcorn, and corn nuts. From experience, I have also noticed that in Ecuadorian ceviche, they include tomato sauce or ketchup for a sweet, tangy flavor and juice from an orange, which is uncommon in other countries when preparing ceviche.

Ingredients

·        1 lb. peeled shrimp

·        7-8 limes

·        1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

·        1 chopped red onion

·        2-3 finely chopped tomatoes

·        2 tsp. finely chopped cilantro

·        ½ cup ketchup

·        2 tsp. olive oil

·        Salt & pepper to taste

Steps

1.     Wash, peel and cook shrimp.

2.     Chop up and mix onions, tomatoes, and cilantro.

3.     Add lime juice, orange juice, ketchup, and olive oil.

4.     Add the shrimp. Add salt & pepper to taste.

5.     Let the mixture sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

6.     Serve cold with plantain chips or popcorn.

Cultural Connections and Immersion Ft. Zoom

By: Elena Walker

March: the month I found out I was being mandated home from study abroad in Costa Rica and my plans to go to Ecuador for five weeks in the summer had also fallen apart. In those first few days, with how hectic it felt trying to pack 3 months of my life up to move back to a United States I was worried would not be the same as I had left it, my mind naturally blocked out any extra stressors or negative thoughts that threatened to bubble to the surface. It wasn’t until I sat alone, in my room, quarantined a few weeks later that I began to fully process what had happened and what was going to happen. The latter of which instilled more fear of the unknown in me than I had ever experienced before. I learned that I had the opportunity to still work with Manna Project for the summer, but it would be on a virtual platform. I figured that it would be better than nothing, considering many of my friends’ internships were severely shortened or cancelled altogether. Although MPI sent various emails over the weeks leading up to the internship with helpful information, I had no idea what to expect (or more importantly what I would be missing out on) for this virtual experience. 

Within the first week, I had met the other 9 interns, grown accustomed to the basic weekly schedule, and learned that we would be receiving a lot of professional development training. Of course I was grateful and recognized that these career trainings and seminars would have been less numerous on-site in Ecuador, but I still longed for the possibility of a deep cultural experience that had drawn me to Manna’s program in the first place. I looked to my language exchange beginning the next week and hoped it would satisfy my desire to travel and have a profound cross-cultural connection. 

By the end of week one, a supervisor gave me my partner’s name (Cynthia) and WhatsApp number. I eagerly reached out to her and was interested to see what her level of English was going to be. From our short text conversation leading up to our first call, I quickly ascertained that Cynthia was fairly proficient in the language. This both excited me and made me a bit nervous as I did not want to frustrate her with my more intermediate level of Spanish. I went into our first call with an open mind and high expectations for how the exchange was going to play out which I realized was probably a dangerous sentiment. I accepted the fact that it would either be a success or I would be left with more regret of not being in Ecuador. 

Our first Zoom call was on the Wednesday of the second week of my internship. I will admit the initial saying “hi” (or “hola”) and getting into the beginning of our conversation was a bit awkward, but that is to be expected when you are meeting someone for the first time over a computer screen. The awkwardness only lasted 5 minutes, and we began to feel comfortable as the conversation progressed into both of us excitedly telling the other about where we grew up. We spoke in Spanish for the first 30 minutes, and for once in my life I felt completely unjudged and at ease speaking my second language even though I knew I was butchering certain tenses and sentence structures.

Cynthia was patient and understanding as she would only correct me or remind me of words when I directly asked for her help. The last half of the call was spent in English as she explained some of her favorite aspects of her community, Sangolquí, and apologized for her lack of mastery of the language. We soon came to realize that we both were at similar language levels, could hold a conversation, but just needed practice speaking and exposure to natives conversing in our respective second languages. I ended the call knowing I had grown in my confidence speaking with natives and gained an inside view into Ecuadorian culture and customs. 

The following calls proceeded in a similar manner, with us both teaching the other about an aspect of our society, swapping funny stories, and just talking about our plans for the weekend. Even though what made us different was starkly apparent, the similarities and shared passions that bound us together were also evident. They might have been harder to see from first glance, but they existed nonetheless. We discovered that we both were in band in high school, are about the same age, believe we have the world’s cutest dogs, and love learning different languages. Food is also a huge part of our lives, and we have bonded over our love of famous dishes in each of our countries. From pollo asado to mac n cheese, we love to eat!

We also have had difficult discussions about race relations in the United States and were able to compare and contrast that with the complex racial identities within Latin American society. She has become someone I can talk candidly with about how I view my country and the struggles it faces as she listens and learns about Americans and American culture. Consequently, she is able to enlighten me about the Latina way of life and how she views the world from her cultural perspective. I have learned a lot about her culture and in return come to know myself and my society better through our interaction and her reactions to American news and our customs.

The expectations of a deep connection and cultural immersion that I had were somehow exceeded. I keep trying to remind myself that it’s still not Ecuador, but I would argue that this experience has been pretty dang close. I look forward to continuing my exchange with Cynthia, even after my internship ends, and hopefully getting to visit the country that I have learned so much about. I already have an invitation to dinner from Cynthia’s mom when I arrive.

A Foreign Language Education Investigation of the United States and Ecuador

By Thomas Joyce

The concept of foreign language instruction in the United States has been a long debated issue. Some believe that proficiency in a foreign language should be a high school graduation requirement; others believe that required language classes hinder the exploration of other subjects by students not interested in languages; and finally some believe that foreign language instruction is not being done early enough in schools. Over the years, the presence of foreign language education in schools nationwide has been declining, and recent reports show that only roughly 20% of students across the country study foreign languages at some point in their K-12 years, and only 7.5% of college students study foreign languages. The result of this has been a population less equipped for this constantly globalizing world in which only 20% of the population speaks English, and the importance of cross-cultural communication continues to grow. 

Having studied a second language for the past seven years, I have always been puzzled by the lack of attention given to foreign language learning, and felt that foreign language classes were not being offered to students early enough. Upon conversing with my language partner, who attended an English Institute High School in Ecuador, he told me about learning English in school from a very young age, taking English classes outside of school, and having to pass an English proficiency test in order to graduate high school. Although these are not the typical requirements of schools in Ecuador, I was amazed by what he was describing. This sparked my interest, and led to my investigation of foreign language teaching in the United States, as well as in Ecuador, and although the prevalence of bilingual individuals in these countries is not starkly different right now, the futures of these countries may look very different based on actions currently being taken. 

In the United States, foreign language requirements depend on the state, and right now only four locations have foreign language study as a graduation requirement. In New Jersey and New York, one year of foreign language study is required to graduate high school, while in Michigan and Washington, DC, two years are required. Aside from these locations, no other states have mandatory requirements, and in fact, only 1 in 5 public school students take a foreign language class prior to entering the college/university level. This lack of educational presence has resulted in the US lagging behind in the world in regards to cross-cultural communication. In fact, only roughly 20% of Americans are bilingual according to the US Census Bureau. For comparison, in Europe, roughly 56% of people are bilingual. In regards to Ecuador, traditionally the percentage of Ecuadorians that speak a foreign language has not been very high, but since the implementation of the US dollar as the official currency in 2000, the conversation surrounding the importance of English fluency has become much more relevant. 

In 2015, The Ministry of Education in Ecuador enacted a bill that required English instruction in public primary schools starting at the age of six, with the goal of proficiency by age eleven. This made it the third country, behind Costa Rica and Colombia, to require English language instruction at such a young age. Ecuador has also implemented a program known as GoTeacher, which is a study abroad program for Ecuadorian teachers which allows them to learn more about the English language and the proper way to instruct it. The current administration cites this bill as one of its main successes, as the importance of languages in our quickly globalizing world has become more clear than ever. 

In the United States, language instruction typically begins in children’s middle school years, which is part of the issue. Studies have shown that the best age for children to begin learning a second language that will maximize chances of achieving fluency, is prior to the age of 10. This means that American schools are beginning foreign language education too late, and when paired with the fact that in the majority of places it is an elective rather than a requirement, it is clear why the United States is behind so many countries in terms of bilingual individuals. Throughout the country, the focus of schools is directed solely toward English, Mathematics, History and Science courses, with language courses wrongly characterized as accessory to this core, rather than a part of it. 

Despite English being the most widely spoken language worldwide, with the world becoming more and more interconnected every day, and with its population growing every year, it is clear that Americans should begin to look at this issue more seriously. With bilingual skills becoming more valuable in the job market and cross-cultural communication becoming more prevalent in day to day life with technological advances, it will be interesting to see if the United States takes steps to combat this largely nationwide tendency toward complacency regarding foreign languages. Ecuador recently took its first steps, and only time will tell if the US will follow its lead.