An New Adventure - Suramerica

Well - it's time for me to hit the road again (well, technically the sky)! I'm leaving tomorrow for South America - Quito, Ecuador in particular -- where I'll be traveling to begin collecting data for my dissertation research on international service and student identity/leadership. I'm so excited to be heading down there, to experience the culture, see the Andes, observe students in action, talk with community members, understand the situation, and to improve my Spanish. Who knows - I may even attempt to write an entry en espanol.

The students I'll be visiting belong to a group at Stanford called Volunteers In Latin America (VILA), and they have been working with street children in Ecuador for a number of years. The students have been extremely warm and welcoming of my research, and they themselves have prepared for this journey in a quarter-long course exploring the issues of Ecuador, international service, etc. I'm so glad that I'll be able to join them. They will be living in Ecuador for two months.

I'll be staying in a hostel in La Mariscal and am looking forward to meeting new friends along the way. One of the students told me that this area is often called 'gringolandia' because a lot of travelers stay there... but I'll probably be able to get by a little easier without complete fluency in Spanish.

Right now - I have few expectations. I'm going in with an open mind - have a few places that I want to visit, but for the most part I want to get lost in the experience, and bring back some good information that will be useful as I continue on the dissertation journey.

The first part of the trip will be an adventure in itself, as I've opted for a 'round about' flight to Quito, with two stops. One in El Salvador for a short time, and the other in Lima, Peru. I'll be in Lima for about 7 hours - and am hoping to take a cab into the city and at least see a little of Peru, maybe grab some ceviche, which I'm told is excellent there (as well as in Ecuador.) Well, wish me luck -- and thank you for sharing in the the journey with me!