Berkley Center

While studying in Salamanca, Spain, I decided to continue my study of the Spanish language and explore a new culture in Quito, Ecuador. In Spain, I took daily classes about Spanish culture, literature, history, and art. By the end of the semester, I was saying hombre every other word, thanking people with grathias, and saying goodbye with "¡hasta luego!" With only three weeks of break in between the two countries, I could not help myself from comparing and contrasting the cultures of Spain and its former colony.

The most striking difference, to me, was the contrast in cultural pride. In Salamanca, the “Castilian” culture and history were held up on a pedestal. The city's medieval streets were scrubbed to perfection every night, the façade of the University of Salamanca was being refurnished, the local movie theatre was showing movies by the famous author Miguel de Unamuno every Thursday, and almost everyone in the city had a pueblo with which they identified a family lineage of hundreds of years. Salamanca had a Castilian history that stretched back long before the Reconquista. Even though Spain as a country has a fractured history of national unity, the Spanish seem to have a deep pride of their culture, whether it´s Andalusian, Galician, Basque, Catalonian, or Castilian.

My second week here in Ecuador, my host mom, Maritza, told me a story that I can't help but think about every day. She told me that when God created the world, the first thing he did was put the plants, animals, and terrain in every country. When he came to Ecuador, he put an abundance of natural resources, beautiful coasts and mountains, and a climate that allows any plant to grow any time of the year. An angel then turned to God and asked, “Don’t you think you are putting too much in this little country?” God responded, “Just wait until you see the type of people I put in it!” This story was in reference to the high crime rates here in Ecuador.

This negative attitude towards the character and culture of Ecuadorian people doesn’t seem to be unique to my host mom. At my university, I enrolled in a class called "Autoconocimiento," or self-knowledge. This class is mandatory for all Ecuadorian students, and in it we explore cultural issues in Ecuador through a philosophical lens. Luckily, I'm the only gringo in the class, meaning the class consists of five Ecuadorians and myself. One of our class readings was by an Ecuadorian writer named Jorge Enrique Adoum, who gave a harsh critique of Ecuadorian culture. In short, he said that Latin Americans, but Ecuadorians in particular, have a culture permeated by machismo, racism, and complete disregard for law and order. In the class discussion, there was little disagreement from the Ecuadorians going over Adoum’s harsh criticism. They mentioned the prevalence of police bribes, how people cut in line all the time here, and the high rates of domestic violence to further Adoum's thesis. If a critique as harsh as this was levied against America in a class full of Americans, I am positive at least someone would stand up for American culture.

When talking to my professor about my studies, she told me she studied at the University of Salamanca as well for her doctorate degree. She mentioned something I had never considered about the differences between Spanish Castellano and Ecuadorian Castellano. The Spanish are direct, use informal commands religiously, and consider the usted form extremely polite. In Ecuador, she said, diminutives (from café to cafecito, for example) are used all the time and usted and ustedes are used even for intimates. While some people may see this as a way of being polite, her observation was that Ecuadorians lack the confidence to assert themselves in their speech.

In my short time here, I've come to disagree with Adoum's harsh critiques and agree with my professor´s comment about confidence. At the university here, my other classes include "The Political Economy of Inequality," "The History of Colonialism," and "Themes in Latin American Politics." In these classes, I have come to terms with how little I knew about colonialism and United States influence in Ecuador. Their economic problems can be traced back to Spanish oppression, where an economic, social, and political system was forced on an indigenous community with an ancient history of redistribution and tribal living. The system of indigenous and mestizo oppression continued well after independence, with natives being sold with the land up until the late nineteenth century. To this day, the words “indigenous” and “mestizo” have a negative connotation in mainstream society, despite the fact the vast majority of the population has a mix of Spanish and indigenous roots.

I am not saying that Ecuador's history of oppression and instability are entirely to blame for its current problems, but I believe it unfair not to mention the disadvantage the country has been given compared to culturally homogeneous nations without a history of colonialism. Ecuador is a country still dealing with its cultural identity, with the wounds of colonial influence fresh in its memory. Adoum believes that the Ecuadorian mentality is to look back and not forward. While Adoum believes this phenomenon is destructive, I wholeheartedly disagree. A country needs to understand itself before it can fully flourish.

The people I've met here in Ecuador are some of the kindest people I've ever met. For every robbery I've heard of, I've had 50 taxi drivers, hotel owners, and friendly locals warn me about safety issues in Quito. My host family here treats me like family, and is extraordinarily generous with their time and attention. People here always help me with my Spanish and take the time to understand me. Their food is to die for, and their liveliness is evidenced by their constant desire to put on music and dance. Ecuadorians have a lot to be proud of. I am proud that I chose Ecuador for study abroad every day.