{"id":18806,"date":"2017-01-04T15:57:07","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T15:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=18806"},"modified":"2017-01-04T15:57:07","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T15:57:07","slug":"ecuador-lessons-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/ecuador-lessons-detroit\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecuador: Lessons for Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Much of my December felt geared towards either the planning my trip to Ecuador, or was spent visiting two of my dearest friends in Ecuador with the Livingstons &#8212; a family for whom I am always grateful.<\/p>\n<p>As my <em>primero<\/em> visit to Ecuador, it was necessary to learn some Spanish. I studied French for a couple of semesters during college; needless to say, I haven&#8217;t remembered much and it wasn&#8217;t very helpful. The only exception being language club that we attended Tuesday night &#8212; a mix of English, Spanish, French and German being practiced. <em>Qu\u00e9 ch\u00e9vere!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In an effort to continue learning and in hopes of remembering Spanish, this blog is dedicated to my top five (known) Spanish verbs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>aprender<\/em> [to learn] &#8211;<\/strong> Whether I&#8217;m in a country where the culture is new or walking down my own street in Detroit, vulnerability and curiosity will change me.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>hacer<\/em> [to make \/ to do] &#8211;<\/strong> I was asked on this trip &#8216;who do you want to be?&#8217; rather than the familiar question of &#8216;what do you want to be?&#8217;. Creative. That was the first characteristic to come to my mind. Although not a blank canvas, Detroit affords its tenants and visitors to express themselves. <em>Listo.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>compartir<\/em> [to share] &#8211;<\/strong> Food, of course. Several possibilities stem from this word, but this form will be my forever favorite. Three separate Ecuadorian families prepared meals for us and welcomed us. I cannot wait to bring home their recipes and hospitality. Let&#8217;s just say that there will be fewer <em>pl\u00e1tanos verdes<\/em> in Detroit.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>doler<\/em> [to hurt] &#8211;<\/strong> Calf cramps that persisted through two games of soccer. The consistent headache from immediate immersion. Looming thoughts of leaving a simple place to return to one of stark volatility. To persevere and practice resilience are acts that transcend cultural divides.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>bailar<\/em> [to dance] &#8211;<\/strong> Spinning in circles with strangers in front of the stage on the Galapagos Islands. Private salsa lessons with Sara&#8217;s instructor. A toast after <em>almuerzo<\/em> with Sara&#8217;s host family that led to a circle of goofy moves and laughter. A simple resolution to bring to Detroit is to wake up each morning and be free.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I am not certain when my next trip to Ecuador will be, but I am excited for what it will hold and how we can continue to learn from one another.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18822\" style=\"width: 679px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18822\" class=\"size-large wp-image-18822\" src=\"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_7561-1024x459.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"669\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_7561-1024x459.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_7561-300x135.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_7561-768x344.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 669px) 100vw, 669px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-18822\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>A rooftop view from Sara and Kimmi&#8217;s apartment in Ibarra, Imbabura, Ecuador.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much of my December felt geared towards either the planning my trip to Ecuador, or was spent visiting two of my dearest friends in Ecuador with the Livingstons &#8212; a family for whom I am always grateful. As my primero visit to Ecuador, it was necessary to learn some Spanish. I studied French for a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":18814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}