May 13, 2010

Finishing One Project


I’m working on the big move and progress is slow. I’m in a bit of limbo right now waiting on other people to move forward--frustrating. In the meantime, I’m going through the winnowing process and I’m even clearing out my computer. There are a few pictures that I had put aside to post at some point but time got away from me before I left. I’ll be posting them throughout the next few days and finishing that project, so I can start posting fresh pictures when I return.

When writing about Ecuador, everyone mentions children at some point. I think it is quite apparent, particularly when contrasting Ecuadorean children to American children, that there must be some differences in the way children are brought up here. Children as a whole are very well behaved and obedient, and it would be pretty rare for them to be disrespectful toward their parents.

Parents are extremely patient and affectionate and Ecuadoreans in general appear very well humored toward children. Older siblings take an important role in helping take care of the younger ones, comforting and playing with them as needed. There also appears to be very little sense of “stranger danger”. Children move about freely, though usually in the company of other children.

You can see young children in malls and parks, with adults nearby but not attached to them. In many ways, Ecuador seems to be living about 50 years in the past and this is one area where that might be a good thing.

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