Montanita

This is a place your parents do not want you to go. This is a place that the teachers stay far away. This is a place to relieves all worries of school work, jobs, and even relationships. This is a place where the young can have fun, and where the old can regain their youthfulness. This place is Montanita. It is a small beach town in Ecuador. It is maybe three or four streets big. I know you are think well how can such a small place be so much fun? I will only try. This place has shows in the middle of the street. An entire street dedicated to drinks, many clubs to go to all night. This city does not sleep for I am telling from experience. I recently just went for about five days and I got all of about five hours of sleep my entire visit. The streets is the party as well as the clubs. Music you can hear from your hostal no matter where you are staying, and the music keeps going all night and morning, it never stops. There are people selling everything from rings, necklaces, bracelets, purses, pipes! The best part is everything is made by hand in front of you. As you walk down the street you hear drum, you meet people from all over the world that speaks many different languages. You being to fall in love with this place right before you leave. The best part of it all is that its on the beach. You have the opportunity to take surfing classes, scuba diving, anything to your hearts content. I cannot even explain therefore I have photos to do some of the explaining, and I am also going to try to put up videos on you tube.

Racism

This is a topic I have been wanting to write about for a long time, well since I had arrived here in Ecuador. It has taken me this long because to me the topic is sensitive, and because some things had happened to me here I had to wait until my mind was clear enough to write about such a thing. Let me first start off by saying that in the States most people believe racism is done, it is over. Let me say this, you are wrong! Racism still exist to this day in every country in every part of the world. So why I am I writing a blog about this? Well I feel that if you are maybe thinking about studying abroad you have to understand that in different countries not all ethics, morals, or values are the same. Everyone does not show respect nor do the give it or expect it. For me I have a few stories. For one I am African American and I am very proud of who I am not once had I ever looked down on myself, or wished I was a different race. Once I arrived here in Ecuador I was faced with many different views on me being black. I recall sitting at the bus stop with two of my friends and a guy sat down beside me. I turned to look and he was staring at me with so much disgust in his eyes. I felt so uncomfortable, I felt so targeted. I did not do anything to this man yet his staring increased and the tension grew. My friends and I finally got up and walked away as I did he jumped up and started yelling right at the bus stop. People were looking at him as he went into a fit only a toddler would do. I did not understand why nor did I want to. I felt targeted as a North American and I felt targeted as a black. So okay maybe you are saying to yourself it had nothing to do with the fact you were black or I can agree maybe it did not maybe it did. However, I do have another story. I was once going to this bar that all my friends were at waiting on me. I arrived to the door and was not allowed in. I did not understand why I could not enter the club my friends had just so shortly entered. I had to call a friend to come to the door and get me. Why did I have to go through that? Shortly after that I had been fed up. I was tired of the strange looks, the worried faces of people when I walked passed them, the little girl who seen me and started to scream and run away, the guy who seen me walking and stopped right in his tracks just so I could past. I wanted to explode. I wanted to hate Ecuador. I did not want to give it any other chance because I felt like Ecuador was not giving me a chance. I sat down and talk to some of my local friends about the problems I was faced with. I found what is even more annoying then being hated on because of your race, is people thinking you are crazy because you feel that way. My friends did not believe me, they said I was crazy, they said I did not know what I was talking about; This is so true because one night I was out at the club with some locals and we were sitting out side talking and having a good time. A little black boy walked up asking for money so I gave him my loose change. A while later another boy came up. This time it was like maybe six of them. I asked him if that was his family he told me yeah. I did not have any more change I, however, had five dollars on me, so I told him to eat to get something to drink to do what he can with what I was about to give him. As I reached into my purse one of the locals I was with said do not give that little boy money all he is going to do is buy drugs. I said why would you say that? He told me that is what statistics say. I responded and said that statistics are made by the government so therefore they are bias. This is your country and for that to be your first response is not right and unfair to those that actually need food, money, warm clothes. I cried because I tried explaining that the people here are not even aware of there ignorance towards their own people. I cried and I went to go sit by myself as I was doing that a little boy comes up to me crying but I had nothing else. My heart was hurting so bad inside I did not know what to do. One of my local friends came up and said oh you will get use to it. I was so mad how can you get use to seeing the people in your country struggle like this, how can you be use to this? I had a realization that night it change my life. People here may not ever realize how close minded they are but in the States we can be better people. How many times have you ever made the comment look at them packed like Mexicans, or oh the Mexicans will work for low. I have witnessed it I have said it, we all have. So if anything needs to change it needs to start with us and maybe one day it can spread. I am glad I can maybe change the view of somebody mind here. I may not be able to make them think differently when they see a black person, but I can represent for my race.

Carlos and Patrick

Carlos is a 13 year old boy that I met in Peru. This boy had my heart from the first moment I seen him. It was maybe one or two in the morning and my friends and I were out enjoying a night out in Peru. This little boy with a bucket in his hands approach our table. As he gently opens the bucket the smell of Peruvian potatoes hit my nose. "Tu quieres papas?" Carlos asked. I shook my head no as the guy, who is Patrick, begins to dig in his pocket for loose change. Patrick is hungry and Carlos needs the money. I looked at Carlos with sorrow in my eyes and started to wonder why was this little kid out on the dark, dangerous streets of Peru at one in the morning with no parents along his side. I asked him, "Por que estas aqui en le noche con papas?." He said he was trying to make money for his family because his sister was in college. I was so hurt. Why should a child have to worry about something so costly, something that at his age should not be in his head. At his age he should be playing sports, going to school, but yet he is on the streets of Peru. Let this be a realization for the people in the United States. I say that because despite how the people in the States feel about our country know we are a rich country and these third world country try so hard to get what we have even in our "recession" that we so much complain about. There are so many people that wish they had half of the opportunities we have in the States; Free public Education for example. All schooling from preschool on up cost money in Ecuador and Peru. In these countries if you are born poor it is most likely you will remain poor because of the issue with education. If you cannot get into school you go to the streets. You do what you have to do to survive and it breaks my heart to know in the States we have high drop out rates, people running the streets because they feel like its quick money or is better. Take advantage of what we have in the States because it is so many people who wish they could do what we take for granted.I realized this once leaving the country so I wanted to share this information make people aware of what is going on in other countries. As I said before its hard to come up from the poor here in Ecuador and Peru, but I did meet one guy who still is very poor but not as poor as he once was. Yet he is blessed for the things he has. His name is Patrick, the guy who was digging in his pocket for Peruvian potatoes. Patrick story touched me so deep I spent my last two days in Peru with him, and I feel that everyone should hear his story. Patrick is from Lima, Peru. He is twenty-three years old and has a little boy that is one year old, and a wife that he has been separated from for two years now. He currently live in Mancora, Peru which is a beach town for tourist. My heart goes out to Patrick for he is fighter. He left his family in Lima to move to Mancora to make money for his family. He had to come by himself because he knew he would not had been able to provide for his family a place to sleep, food, or any of the essential things in life we sometimes take for granted. In Mancora Patrick started off as a Tut Tut driver. They are the taxi drivers in Mancora. Patrick now working at a bar in a hostal known as PK's has a serious problem. He try's to escape from his everyday troubled mind by doing many things such as drinking too much, and doing cocaine. He tries to smother his problems with these drugs. As we talked I asked him why does he do it to himself he said he has many problems and when he is messed up he does not think about them. I told him that it makes no sense because when you come down from your high the problems will be there waiting for you to solve them. Patrick would tell me I am so much better here I have so much money. I send for my child even if that means I cannot eat. I started to think to myself that is not much money if when you provide for your child you cannot even feed yourself. He said that life for him in Mancora was so much better. How could this be I thought to myself if he was still poor. I went to where Patrick works to find behind a big door a mattress with holes up against a wall. I asked him what was that doing there. He told me that is where he sleeps, no covers, no sheets, no pillows, only a mattress that even a dog would not sleep on. It made me cry inside. Here is this man fighting to come up from nothing and still has nothing. I wanted to take him home with me. He is such a great guy despite the obvious. Sometimes in the States we judge so fast and never get to understand anyone story. I will never forget Patrick or Carlos for they are just two people out of millions that are stuck in an never ending cycle to become more than what they were born with.