Take a brief tour through Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. Click on the photo for full display.
I lived in Ecuador a little over two years, mainly in the southern Sierra, in Cuenca and Saraguro. Here is a glimpse into the rich diversity this small country offers. Pictured is an aerial view of Quito, the capital. All photos were taken by Leah C. Vincent.
Aerial view of Quito
The rainforest of Ecuador, tributaries of the Amazon.
I lived in Ecuador a little over two years, mainly in the southern Sierra, in Cuenca and Saraguro. Here is a glimpse into the rich diversity this small country offers. Pictured is an aerial view of Quito, the capital. All photos were taken by Leah C. Vincent.
I chose to begin studying Spanish because almost an entire hemisphere shares this language. After a year of study, I went to live in Ecuador. The father of a family I was staying with began telling stories from his community and at the end of each story, he asked me, "What is the moral of this story?" Even though I understood the words of the story, I didn't know the answer. That's when I realized: a language is not simply a collection of words but rather an entire cultural worldview. Embedded within the language we speak are individual, familial, communal and ancestral ways of perceiving the world. Language communicates our ideas about nature, religion, history, philosophy, community, values. Learning a language allows me to hear other people's stories in their own words.
An aerial view of the lush mountains of Colombia. All photos were taken by Leah C. Vincent.
Another view of Colombia's Andes
Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast. Colombia boasts two coast, the Pacific and Caribbean, which vary widely
An aerial view of the lush mountains of Colombia. All photos were taken by Leah C. Vincent.
I worked intensely and intimately in Colombia with a women’s human rights network called Mujeres de Negro (Women in Black). I spent time in six of the nine departments they work in and everyday went to meetings, interviews, community sessions or assemblies. What first struck me about Colombia is its sheer beauty – the country boasts five different geographical regions and is as lush as Eden. Its warm and inviting people are parallel to its rich diversity. A salient observation was of the hundreds of local groups working for peace and dignity. Media outlets in the U.S. focus solely on the “drug war”, but all over Colombia are people working tirelessly for the life of their communities. When one begins to study Colombia’s modern history, one also realizes how complicated the situation has been; there are not two sides in this “war”, there is factor upon factor compounded by generation after generation, as well as political and financial backing by the U.S. for the military and paramilitaries. Colombia is an incredible country to know – if you’d like to visit a Spanish speaking country, this could be in the top five.
Peru's majestic Andes. All photos were taken by Leah C. Vincent.
In the Sacred Valley, in Peru's Andean region, that comprises Cuzco, Machu Picchu, PÃsac, Ollantaytambo, among other towns, rivers and fertile valleys
The winding roads from Cuzco to Lima, Peru's coastal capital
Peru's majestic Andes. All photos were taken by Leah C. Vincent.
Machu Picchu absolutely deserves all the hype about it. I have traveled to Perú on various occasions, twice to visit Machu Picchu and friends in Cuzco. One of my most thrilling experiences happened while I was sitting on a ledge on Huayna Picchu, the mountain facing Machu Picchu. As I turned away from looking at Machu Picchu, two condors swooped out from under the ledge and sailed off into the valleys below, leaving me breathless. It is a magical place and well worth the trip. For the advanced Spanish learners, I recommend the book Filosofía andina by Josef Estermann.