La Gringa Actually Goes to School

by Devan Bey

Student's lounging by the big UEES sign.

This is a much more domestic post concerning the daily life of an exchange student (as much as my blog likes to suggest, I do not spend every moment travelling this glorious country). In fact, most of my days are spent doing relatively mundane tasks; attending class, walking back and forth from school, and wondering when I get to eat (that last one usually takes precedence).

I attend La Universidad de Especialidades Espiritú Santo (or la UEES) in good ole Samborondón, Ecuador. The school is a small outfit with the majority of students commuting from their respective; ciudadelas in Guayaquil and Samborondón. Its small campus features an international school, schools of engineering and medicine, along with a host of other majors and minors available to students. The campus also boasts rather impressive exercise facilities, and a pool where any number of international students can be found lounging at any given time.

I attend school four days a week a la UEES, walking twenty minutes back and forth in the intense sun to go to classes and returning to my host family's home for lunch in the afternoon. The school has the relaxed attitude that I understand to be exceptionally common in Ecuador and Latin America in general. Students often complain that their classes have been abruptly cancelled for the semester, not allowing them to reach their requirements, thus they end up spending five or six years working toward a bachelor's degree rather than the four they were anticipating.

La UEES' campus.

One of the most striking features of the school to foreigners is the presence of huge iguanas, lounging comfortably on walls and on the brick walkway at the university. They are slightly less common than squirrels would be in the United States. Occasionally the iguanas shock me when I realize I've been standing next to one for thirty seconds and and failed notice until I catch their jerky movements out of the corner of my eye. I still stare at the exotic looking animals as they roll past me in the university, looking every bit like they own the place. Occasionally students try to touch these funny guys, then they are treated to a show of a full-blown iguana sprint. Their legs almost rotate in full circles with their heads pointed stiffly up to the sky. It's unbelievably endearing.

These guys run like you wouldn't believe.

The studying part of the study abroad trip seems rather secondary due to my personal emphasis on traveling and exploration, but really it envelopes a great deal of my time and energy and offers so much of valuable information. The university offers an interesting perspective to view the coastal region from, and it is often perceived as a small enclave isolated from the realities of Guayaquil and other major cities in the area. I'm constantly assumed to be extremely wealthy, both because I'm a (white) foreigner and because I attend la UEES

I've had various homes throughout my life; a Michigan home, Pacific University home(s) and my Oregon home. I now call the city of Samborondón my Ecuador home. It's a unique place, startling to someone who has grown used to the distinctly Ecuadorian cities like Quito and Baños. The city may be the only one in Ecuador that would fit in quite well in the United States, and has been nicknamed Miamborondón among the U.S. exchange students. The entire city is divided in half by a huge five lane highway, lined with modern storefronts such as McDonald's, along with two rival malls placed side by side.

On the walk home from school.

Despite the huge concentration of wealthy residents, Samborondón is not particularly charming and has none of the unique flavor of the many other cities I have had the pleasure of visiting. It gives me the feeling of an industrialized area that does its best to conceal its true identity with shiny window displays filled with the the joys of westernized commerce and capitalism. It's a city for wealthy Guayaquileños, a bubble (una bulbuja) that is isolated in many ways from the grittiness of Guayaquil across the river with all its industrial bite. All that being said, I have no bad feeling towards Samborondón and I've had many fun experiences within its borders and with its residents!

Guayaquileños are often called 'monkeys' by other regions.

Guayaquil, situated across the Río Guayas and about a ten minute drive from my house, has its own unique flair. The city has next to no colonial architecture, due to seven or eight fires that have burned it to the ground since the arrival of the missionaries in the 1530's. What architecture that exists now is a recreation of traditional French and Italian styles. These buildings are not particularly stunning and one would be disappointed if one entered the city expecting the type of architecture available in Quito. For this reason, comparisons between the two largest cities in Ecuador are in fact dangerous and discount much of both city's proud history.

Guayaquil from above.

Guayaquil functions as Ecuador's largest port and earns a great deal of the Ecuador's gross national product Guayaquileños are fiercely proud of their city and will never fail to point this out to tourists and visitors from the Andes (la Sierra) and the Amazon (el Oriente) Regional rivalries still thrive in this country, and citizens of la sierra and la costa are constantly hurling stereotypes back and forth at each other, making fun of one another's work ethic, race, level of education, and Spanish accent, among many other things. In extremely simplified terms, Guayaquil might be considered "street smart" while Quito occupies the opposite "book smart" stereotype.

"Hey guys! We have pretty stuff too!" -Guayaquil

Guayaquil has its charming sectors, including El Malecón, the area running parallel with the river, which features a couple marketplaces, some historical statues and several displays of patriotism. Las Peñas is another enjoyable area, although they recently enacted a new law that prohibits dancing in in night clubs and limits drinking after 2:00 a.m., which many of my international friends found appalling!

Overall, I love my two host cities of Guayaquil and Samborondón, and my deeply caring host family and the friends I've found in these two striking cities. I hope to be able to continue to explore Guayaquil and get to know its unique culture more in the two months of school left for me here in Ecuador. That being said... don't expect me to acknowledge that I'm a student too often after this! As much as it is a part of my experience in Ecuador, its my least favorite to talk about and probably not the most interesting thing to read about! Until next time, amigos.