Have you ever considered living with indigenous families in South America?
If you decide to take part in the Liberal Studies trip to Ecuador next spring, you can.
If you do, you’ll be part of the dozens of students who participate in the annual trip every spring.
A group of 25 San Diego State University students descended on Quito last spring for a 10-day trip that included living with Quichua and Spanish-speaking families, volunteering at local elementary schools, exploring volcanoes, a rain and cloud forest and learning how to make chocolate from scratch.
Lisa Carney-Farwell, a lecturer in the College of Education’s School of Teacher Education, led the students during the 10-day trip to Ecuador. During the stay, the group got to visit the country’s capital, Quito; Mindo, the coastal village of San Clemente, where they stayed with local indigenous families; and Otalvo, home to the biggest hand-craft market in South America.
“We stayed with indigenous families whose first language was Quichua and second was Spanish. No English was spoken,” said Carney-Farwell, who has visited Ecuador three times. “This was the most challenging but also most rewarding part of the trip for the students. After only 4 days and nights, they were very sad to leave their families.”
The group also got to visit butterfly and orchid gardens, Peguche waterfall and Cubilche Lake. They also hiked the volcanoes and learned about what plants they use to cure everything.
One of the most surprising things they ate was guinea pigs, which the indigenous people eat and use to practice medicine and healing.
“Many of our students tried it. Of course it tastes like chicken,” said Carney-Farwell, adding that the rest of their food was fresh and natural and included lots of fruits and potatoes.
On their last night with the families, they had a Noche Cultural Fiesta (culture night) during which the families let their guests wear some of their clothes, learned their dances and listened to local traditional music.
“I have traveled my whole life and gone many places but I have never experienced anything like we did in Ecuador with the Indigenous families,” said Carney-Farwell. “This trip was amazing and I would highly recommend it to next year’s study abroad students. It will be an experience they will probably never have in their life.”
More information about the trip to Ecuador and other Latin American trips can be found in the Liberal Studies Trips web page.