DONDE ES?

I just returned from a humanitarian mission to the land of my father; Riobamba, Ecuador S.A. The mission went well enough I suppose, and I am so very glad to have been able to come to the aid of a loved one. But honestly, and sadly, this is a sticky country and there are sticky people in this sticky country. There is an onslaught of wrong in this land...and of course with that the usual greed, corruption, and exploitation by near and far. And that goes without saying that some of these stickies are "familia" and this is by far the most unfortunate of the unfortunates...but I don't' want to discuss this now....

Analysis: I have travelled to Ecuador on four separate occasions. I can say with some certainty that I do not like the pollution here, the food, the smell of burning cilantro and forests - or the diesel exhaust clouds that choke the cities, in this third-world land. I do not like the overall disdain for appearance the inhabitants seem to have in this country. Are there lazy minds at work here? Maybe a product of hundreds of years of oppression and enslavement by their Spanish conquerors?

Sure, I can appreciate the fact that I was raised in the U.S. and around the luxuries associated therein. And I can also appreciate the fact that because of this I have developed a separate set of standards apart from the standards or ideas of my fathers land, or lack thereof, namely infrastructure and beautification. I suppose what I can't seem to wrap my head around is that in this technologically advanced age, the age of information; why are these places so backwards still? When one can hop on the internet and visit anyplace in the world; where is the visual evidence that these people want to improve themselves? Where are those people that say to themselves, "hey that looks nice, I want that. I can do that!"? On an individual scale, why is it hard for people to grab their boot straps and pull themselves up out of the decrepitude and old world way of thinking? I am positive that they are there...I just have not seen them on my visits.

I sincerely believe that the bones of this land are beautiful though...and strong...and holistically speaking the ingredients are all there. I see so much potential in this country, I really, really do. I understand the poverty issue, sure. But there is no excuse for being sloppy, and no excuse for lack of original thinking; I believe, in the end that humans transcend. Maybe we haven't come to the end yet.... I suppose, with all this grappling, I want to know where is the vision? SHOW ME SOME VISION ECUADOR!


I am an aesthete. I care greatly about detail. I seek out beautiful things and can recognize them when I see them. With that said, I see so much beauty in this country. I want to see Ecuadorians doing the same.