In the summer of 2015 I was accepted into a program to study abroad in Cuenca, Ecuador. In addition to living with a host family and taking Spanish classes while I was there, I also had many opportunities to experience the culture. We had extra lessons after school along with weekend field trips around the country. This experience allowed me to master all three skills of the global citizenship competency: self-awareness, knowledge and understanding, and communication.
Through my previous experiences in my classes, I became more self-aware of myself as a member of the American culture. Being in a new country, however, allowed me to compare my own culture to another in ways I never could in America. For example, on one of my last nights in Ecuador I went to a fireworks celebration in the town square. They were setting off fireworks right in front of people and even charging at each other with fireworks going off. It seemed very dangerous and reckless to me, especially since one woman’s hair caught on fire right in front of me! I realized though, that I was not in America. We have all sorts of rules and regulations and cultural taboos that are completely different from Ecuador’s. Although I still thought it was dangerous, I could see that it was only because of my own upbringing and cultural biases. Therefore, understanding another culture can be so difficult, because we are raised in a certain environment that causes a certain habit of mind. Being aware of this and trying to understand it is the first step of accepting another culture.
Through my previous experiences in my classes, I became more self-aware of myself as a member of the American culture. Being in a new country, however, allowed me to compare my own culture to another in ways I never could in America. For example, on one of my last nights in Ecuador I went to a fireworks celebration in the town square. They were setting off fireworks right in front of people and even charging at each other with fireworks going off. It seemed very dangerous and reckless to me, especially since one woman’s hair caught on fire right in front of me! I realized though, that I was not in America. We have all sorts of rules and regulations and cultural taboos that are completely different from Ecuador’s. Although I still thought it was dangerous, I could see that it was only because of my own upbringing and cultural biases. Therefore, understanding another culture can be so difficult, because we are raised in a certain environment that causes a certain habit of mind. Being aware of this and trying to understand it is the first step of accepting another culture.
The last skill I focused on while I was in Ecuador was my communication skill. This not only includes learning the Spanish language, but also nonverbal communication and how these things relate to culture. Before my trip to Ecuador, I had taken several Spanish classes at the university, but I was by no means fluent. In fact, I could barely string sentences together without the help Google Translate. I began taking classes at the university in Cuenca with several other students from around the world. Not only was I getting practice in my actual classes, I also had more practice at home. My host family didn’t speak English so I would try and chat with them as often as possible to keep getting practice in. Every time I went out I also had to use my language skills to make it through the city on my own. I noticed a few differences in communication, besides the language. I noticed that people stand closer to each other when they talk than in the US, and they use a lot of hand gestures as well. Between these experiences and my actual classes, I realized that learning another culture’s language is much more complex than just learning a few words. Learning the words of another language is functional, but learning about the culture behind it is just as important. For example, in Ecuador my friends and I were called ‘gringo’ quite often. In Ecuador, that is fine and that is just how they refer to Americans. However, my host father told me that in Mexico it is used as an insult. Understanding these differences in language and communication is vital to understand global cultures.
My time in Ecuador was an experience that has helped me grow as a human being and a global citizen more than anything else I have done before. It allowed me to expand my self-awareness, knowledge and understanding, and communication skills. I never had a chance before this to immerse myself in a different culture, and I used this opportunity to learn as much as I possibly could. I left Ecuador with more knowledge on the culture, reflecting on the different perspectives of the friends I had made, and finally being able to have a conversation in Spanish.
My time in Ecuador was an experience that has helped me grow as a human being and a global citizen more than anything else I have done before. It allowed me to expand my self-awareness, knowledge and understanding, and communication skills. I never had a chance before this to immerse myself in a different culture, and I used this opportunity to learn as much as I possibly could. I left Ecuador with more knowledge on the culture, reflecting on the different perspectives of the friends I had made, and finally being able to have a conversation in Spanish.
My entire time in Cuenca developed my knowledge and understanding skill. I lived with a host family while I was there, and we had many conversations during my time there about what it was like to live in Ecuador. All my teachers there were also native to Ecuador, so I could ask them questions in class as well. Everyone I interacted with gave me more insight into their culture and way of living. Outside of class, I was constantly seeking out new people to talk to, and therefore made many friends while I was living there. I could have deeper conversations with these people, about history, politics, economics, and more. For example, we could compare and contrast our respective presidents and how they ran our countries. These conversations with the locals are one of the things I appreciated most about my trip, because learning about all the different cultural perspectives is extremely valuable to me. These perspectives allowed me to expand on my knowledge and understanding as a global citizen.