Kevin Billups

After a month long immersion trip in Ecuador, Andrew Chelton '09 has made a video collage of the trip which can be seen here. The video features a stunning array of video and images that allows its viewer a personal and comprehensive taste of Ecuadorian life and culture. Chelton describes the trip as "an eye-opening experience," and found Ecuador a place where he could both "experience the culture and improve [his] Spanish as well." "I believe the purpose of the trip was to take a group of students who had not had this type of experience before and immerse them in a culture unlike any other," says Chelton; "I believe that the type of students that are selected are the ones that could benefit most from an experience like this, not only with their communication skills but also their appreciation for other cultures." Chelton claims the best part of the trip was the two weeks the group spent in the Amazon. "It takes awhile to realize how different life there really is," Chelton says; "basically the only inhabitants are people from Guayaquil working on remote petroleum facilities or natives living in small communities that wouldn’t exactly attract American tourists." He also says that he learned that " Americans take a lot of things for granted" and seeing how "the incredibly different and distinct cultures thrive" made the trip one he will never forget.

For further student comments and Ecuador news please see the news article by Howard Hewitt here!