Andrew Kapsalis '10 - (5-21-09) - For class today, we took a trip to two "colegios" that emphasized the difference between public and private schools here, while also allowing us to gain an opportunity to learn how to connect with the adolescents here in order to better teach them as in the second half of our trip.

Colegios are schools in which students from around 5 years old (and sometimes younger) to 18 years old attend in order to gain similar knowledge as taught at those ages in the United States. Such subjects include Spanish literature, English (starting at the youngest ages), world histroy, psycology, mathematics, etc. Once they reach their 17th year, though, they typically decide what profession they want to ensue after their colegio. This will then limit their classes to a certain few, which is a more closed-minded approach than in the States. They do this though, because they choose their career before they attend university, whereas we choose at our university and can attend a grad. school as well.

I have been told by a host family here that the American way of life is to work to live, but in Ecuador it is a tradition of living to work. I find this very interesting, and easily visible throughout the city of Quito as I have been able to observe it for two weeks now.

At the first school, Colegio 24 de Mayo, we discovered the atmoshpere of a public school. The public schools in Ecuador are free to attend and have a huge student population. Here, we were able to sit in on senior presentations that are somewhat equivalent to oral comps at Wabash. They spend what seemed to be a huge chunk of time researching a topic, chile peppers in the one I attended, and had to devise a presentation to describe how they made their products from the chile peppers, what the backgrounds behind their products were, what the background behind their made up business was, and how they were going to advertise them and sell them (where they also had to choose prices to sell them at). Their presesntation was then assessed by three judges who gave them a grade at the end to say whether or not they passed and were allowed to graduate or not.

All of the students in my group got the most amount of points possible (20) and jumped for joy once they received the news. It was awesome to watch and experience. The judges then asked the students what there plans were for their future professions, and those in my group all chose fields in the sciences and medicine. I found this to be really cool being that I am a science major and am on the same track they are.

The second colegio, Liceo Internacional, was a private school in which the students must pay to attend. The amount per month varies between private shcools but average around 300 USD (their main currency is the dollar). This school is known for its ability to create bilingual students starting at the age of 3 with English classes. Our tour guide was a teacher from New Hampshire that had moved to Ecuador to teach English, as many of the students on the trip want to do. She also gave them her information so that they could get a hold of her when they graduate and are looking for a job. I thought that was amazing.

She also took us to an area where students were presenting information on their hobbies. We were to go around and get them to talk in English to us, something that we will be doing the next 2 weeks of the trip. It was really cool to hear what some of the kids had to say: anywhere from making a guitar, making food, to sewing a soccer ball. I was highly intrigued and was glad to be able to experience something like this.

Overall, I am extremely grateful that Wabash gives its students the opportunity to take such a trip. I have already learned a ton from cultural aspects, to speaking the language fluently, to living as the Ecuadorians do, and we still have two more weeks left. I can't wait to see what comes next, and I'm glad that I am able to share that experience with a bunch of friends that I have made from Wabash through this opportunity.