I painted a pair of Ecua shoes today. They didn’t turn out quite like I wanted them to, but since it was my first time painting shoes, and I didn’t have all the colors I needed…and the shoes themselves only cost $6….I’ll take ‘em
Posts tagged "ecuador"
Oh hey, Tumblr.
I never told you about my tattoo!
I had joked all semester about getting a tattoo while I was in Ecuador, and then one day I was walking around with my friends Tyler and Anneke, when I said “Hey, I think we’re near the tattoo place that someone told me about.” I had mentioned an idea I had to Anneke, and she was all, “Tell Tyler!” Tyler immediately grabbed me and said “LETS GO RIGHT NOW.” So we did. It was super spontaneous but I definitely don’t regret it- since being more spontaneous is something I’ve been trying to do here.
The phrase says “Siga nomas,” and is such a common thing to say here that every Ecuadorian who sees it thinks its hilarious. The direct translation is “continue no more,” which obviously makes no sense. What it really means is “just keep going” or “go right ahead,” and is something often said by bus drivers or store employees (hence why many Ecuadorians laugh at it). However, to me, the phrase really embodies this entire experience. Not only is it an incredibly Ecuadorian phrase, but it also accurately describes my entire attitude about being here. Things get difficult sometimes (see my post about Machismo), and there are occasions where I’d rather be at home, but I just have to “Siga nomas,” and keep going straight ahead, taking each day as it comes.
A rant
There are so many things I love about Ecuador…really. I love the food, the kindness of strangers, the beautiful diversity of the country.
But there is one thing that has been bothering me….growing in how much it irritates me every day, and something that I just dont know how to handle.
Machismo.
Machismo in its biggest, ugliest form. It’s here. It plagues this country. It courses through the blood of men, and it falls like pouring rain onto the heads of their sons. Little boys play at a daycare where, across the street, a man whistles at a fifteen year old girl…his hungry eyes following her even after she has passed him. She does nothing because she has grown up with her mother telling her that “it’s just the way men are.”
This vision so accepted, that “respectable” and “sexy” cannot exist within the same body. That one is for marrying, and one is for calling on the weekends.
Almost as common as the stray dogs on the street, are the young women with babies strapped to their backs…no man in sight. Abandoned and forced to sell gum and cigarettes to strangers. No one to speak for them.
But its not just among the poor. It infects everyone. The wealthy young men at my University, with money enough to see the world, but a mind too closed to appreciate it. To them, girls are either for screwing at a party, or to have permanently attached to their arm. They hide behind the world caballero. To them, a gentlemen just has to protect a woman who can’t defend herself…not respect her for her intelligence.
And Machismo is a disease so strong that it touches everyone- women alike. Girls want boyfriends to say they have a boyfriend. Content with being submissive as long as he buys her lunch and drives her home.
But its not just women. In fact, even worse is when the Machista turns on his own gender, incapable of understanding how a man could possibly be attracted to another man. It’s manifested in dirty words and religious scripture. Gay people are sick. They need God. There isn’t even the type of hate that exists in the states, but instead there is a fear like no other. A fear that just because a man wants to live a certain way, he is going to foce that way of life onto another man. No me tocas, estás enferma.
I don’t know what to do. I told myself I was here to observe, not to judge. But how can I stand by when everything I stand for is thrown on the ground and stomped on. But Machismo is something that goes so deep, it would take another lifetime to bleed out. Sons soak up the image of their fathers, and unless a father does something about it, his son will grow up just like him, and his father before that.
Ecuador is a beautiful country, rich in history and culture. I never regret choosing to come here, and I still look forward to the adventures I have yet to have. But I know I’ll continue to feel trapped, unable to do anything about the eyes that look me up and down every day, the hands that only want to stop me, and the men who, it seems, will never understand.
reason #74543658 why Ecuador is better than America
Rode this baby all the way to Quicentro and back- through traffic and everything.
#things that are illegal in america
Something that I’ve noticed about people here, or at least my host family, is how very observant and vocal they are when it comes to physical appearance.
Whenever we watch TV, my host mom and sister always have something to say about how an actor, actress, or singer looks.
When someone is “perfect” theres a lot of “Que guapo” , “Que linda la chica”
When someone is just a little bit not perfect it’s suddenly “él es un poco mediofeo” ”Que fea”
And when someone is just a little curvy, its “Que gorda, es!”
I don’t know whether to appreciate their blunt judgement or be offended by it. In the states, it’s not really PC anymore to comment on someone’s appearance out loud - even if everyone instinctively thinks something insulting. Here, there isn’t a way to explain political correctness.
I’m not here to pass judgement, but to observe…and this is just one of many observations.
some days I have these moments where I just stop and think, “holy shit. I’m in Ecuador.”
