My better half

Of the week, that is.

After I successfully braved the ticket lines Wednesday morning, I caught the bus for school knowing that a history test was patiently awaiting my arrival. I had no idea what kind of format I should be expecting, only that I was supposed to have researched an "ilustrado" well enough to be able to use information about the person's life and beliefs. It turned out being a really cool format--I was to write a letter to someone in Quito today as if I were Eugenio Espejo, my ilustrado. Using what I knew about his life and perspectives and beliefs, I was to critique an aspect of Quiteño life or politics... or something like that. So, a very broad and open prompt. But very cool, I thought. She really wants us to apply what we're learning about the 18th century to what we see in the 21st century, and she wants us to be critical thinkers and extract as much as possible from the somewhat (extremely) dry readings that we are assigned. I wrote to the president of USFQ, suggesting that the university place more emphasis in reaching out to the public and using the enormous amount of privilege and opportunity available to its students in a samaritan-like manner. Espejo was poor and had to lie about his race to go to school, and ended up being THE motivator and enlightened person in Ecuador's history, fighting for human rights and independence from Spain. I feel like if he were alive today, he would be disgusted by the huge gap between the haves and have-nots, and the blatant racial and cultural discrimination that exists with the diversity. I think he would wish that USFQ students used their opportunities to teach their fellow Ecuadorians, to develop the country, to ensure that many more people had a chance at a decent education and a better quality of life. He would be disgusted at the amount of selfish attitudes which exist, and at the importance of money and self-advancement over compassion and pride in patria.

As I read what Espejo wrote and what was written about him, I felt like I could relate very much with his wishes and passions for the world, though I come from almost the opposite end of the class and race spectrum. I put a lot of myself into that letter, and I left feeling like I had made a very deep analysis of my current university, what I've learned so far about the country, my position as a white foreigner from the US, and what it means to me to be "enlightened." It's amazing how much one class can get me thinking about the world around me, even though it's only 3 hours a week. My sociology class does the same thing for me. I love learning about people and how we function in this crazy world, and I think these things are so relevant and crucial to my life of continual education.