Day 30: Let the Final Projects Begin!

Today, we began working on our final video projects. These videos are intended to be personal syntheses of our time here in Ecuador and give us a platform to reflect on all the amazing cultural, social, and natural experiences we’ve had here. I have been thinking about an idea for my own project since we first started to discuss the specs, and I am really excited to see how other people take the prompt and run with it.

In the late morning, many people set out to El Centro with the goal of obtaining new footage. Perhaps they like the ambient street noise or the booming voices of street vendors. Or perhaps, they want to include images of children playing around the fountain. Either way, El Centro has a busy, fun, overwhelming atmosphere that I think pretty accurately parallels many of the feelings we’ve had here in Ecuador.

As the morning went on and people began returning back to the hotel, I could sense their excitement about their final videos. Their ideas are transforming, maturing, and becoming tangible projects that really describe how they’ve connected with this Dialogue.

I got to have my meeting with Jean and David today, but before that I went to lunch at this adorable café down the street called Pannostro. It has really great coffee, sandwiches, cookies, and muffins, and it reminded me a lot of a coffee shop you might find in United States suburbia. I ordered an iced latte and a chocolate chip muffin, a very typical choice.

The muffin and iced coffee I ordered at Pannostro. Amy, sitting across from me, ordered a coffee and a cookie, which came with another mini cookie!

Although my meal was delicious, it really made me think about just how much we influence the culture here and in other countries. Interestingly enough, I had a chance to talk to Jean and David today about how my political science background has opened my eyes to certain cultural and social paradoxes here and how I’ve really noticed the role we play in every environment we enter. To be honest, I am still shocked by the number of American, Italian, and Chinese restaurants choices on every street.

Overall, today was pretty uneventful. Everyone is working diligently on their final video essays, which I am sure will be quite obvious when we get to screen our finished products!