Hello everyone, it`s Alejandra and Emily. We were today`s lideres del dia. Today`s quote was “Any so-called material thing that you want is merely a symbol: you want it not for itself, but because it will content your spirit for the moment.” by Mark Twain. This quote really ties in with our theme of the day, which was working and living like a local. We woke up super early today around 5:00 AM to get ready to take on the day as a local. We traveled to Salasaka and spent a majority of our day with the Masakisa family, where we met the lovely Victoria and her family. We had breakfast with them, which included a traditional indigenous meal of fruit, bread, butter, cheese, and jam, with either blackberry juice, hot chocolate, or tea with machica, grained flaxseeds. After breakfast, Victoria had a chance to introduce herself, her family, and the work we would each help out with. We were divided into four different groups and spent two hours either picking yellow flowers to make dyes, cutting plants to feed the animals with, picked herbs, or degrained corn. For many of us, it was our first time seeing the challenges that locals face when living in a rural community. For example, cutting the plants to feed the animals was a challenge because we only had a certain amount of time to do it since the heat would increase the faster it came to being noon. The more we cut, the heavier the loads became, which made it difficult to carry it from one plot of land to the other. In order to carry this heavy load, some of the glimpsers had to carry about thirty pounds of plants on their back, which may not sound so heavy at first, but imagine a couple teenagers carrying a big bundle of plants the size of a baby elephant for a fifteen minute walk. Some said that it felt like hours. This is the reality for most people here. They have to work hard to maintain their livestock, which in many ways maintains them as well. Despite this sounding very difficult, we feel as though living this way can help people value life more and appreciate what they have.

When we came back from our tasks, we drove a little passed Victoria`s home and fed her cows. We even helped her milk some of them, which was a really interesting experience. We then came back to her home and had another traditional meal. She cooked vegetable soup with a side of corn, chicken, salad, and potatoes. After eating this meal, we had the option of trying another traditional meal, cuy or guinea pig. Some of the glimpsers described it as being slightly tastier than chicken. Others disagreed and said it tasted similar to duck. We may have been terrified of trying to eat what is known to be a pet in the United States, but we wanted to get the full experience.

Later on, we had the chance to look at some of the Masakisa family`s handmade crafts. When the end of our time at the family`s home came, we presented them with thank you gifts for allowing us to be a part of their community and getting to know more about what it means to be a local. Sadly, it was time for us to return to our humble abode, Tren Dorado, where we had some time to prepare for our CAP presentation to Utopia. We received constructive criticism on how we could improve and fully deliver our ideas.

For dinner, we had a very nice surprise. We actually met and dined with Riobamba delegation one at Roma Santa and had an American meal. Pizza! We had such a fun time getting to know the other glimpsers and learn from their experiences of teaching English classes and finishing their community action project. Upon returning to our home for the next week, we had an insightful discussion about the quote of the day. For us, the quote had a strong impact throughout the day. When we learned more about how difficult life as a local could be, we instantly saw differences between the United States and developing countries like Ecuador. In the United States, we see many ads trying to persuade us into buying items that we do not need. There is mass consumerism where we live and sometimes it is not always easy to see. We continue to buy products that we do not need and may not even use at all because we think that this will make us happy. Whereas here in Ecuador, we have learned and first handedly experience that we do not need all that much to be happy. Additionally, we should work hard for what we need and what we believe is necessary to live. This really puts into perspective the reasons we continue to purchase items that are unnecessary. It changed the way many of us perceive happiness. Multiple responses after this experience stated that happiness comes from appreciating the little things in life and not taking anything for granted. Victoria and her family are a great example of this. They may not have a big house or the greatest jobs ever, but they make the most out of everything and are willing to share their lives with us and help anyone at any time.