In Spanish, there are two verbs for “to know”: saber and conocer. Saber is used for information, like “I know that Mt Chimborazo is the farthest point from the center of the earth” (Yup, take that Everest!). Conocer, on the other hand, is for people and places. It communicates that you not only know information but also have direct experience with that person or place.
After being in Quito for a week, do I have enough experience in the city to claim that I know it? ¿La conozco? What about my host family? After three days, ¿la conozco? And the other students in my program? ¿Los conozco?
I certainly feel like I’ve learned and experienced enough this week to fill at least a month of “knowing.” I’ve ridden around Quito in various Ubers (our form of transportation here- cheap and safe!), visited the historic center, ate at amazing restaurants, and explored city parks. By now, I’m starting to recognize the major landmarks: La Avenida America where I live, La Carolina park, El Jardin mall. My eyes catch the “movistar” and “claro” signs sticking out of small storefronts, indicating that I could refill my phone plan minutes there. I can pick out the muffled song of the gas truck echoing up through the buildings as it passes our 3rd-story classroom in the program center.
At home, I’m working to figure out which route from my cozy bedroom to the bathroom will best help me avoid the squeaky floorboards. Our dog Cleo barks at me a little less each time I come home, probably as the smell of my two cats fades and I absorb more of the scents of egg-croissant breakfast sandwiches, tropical fruit, and whatever sweet-smelling laundry detergent my family uses. Conversations with my host mom and sister are becoming more comfortable, and I’ve picked up the Quiteño habit of putting la/el before people’s names (my family calls me “la Megan”).
Our cohort of 13 has bonded quickly. We quickly got past “name-hometown-major” and now feel like we’ve known each other for much longer than a week. We know who’s attention we should catch to point out the dogs being walked in groups of four through the city, who would love the colorful rings being sold by a vendor in the Centro Histórico, and who is most likely to think that a 65 degree Quito morning is “cold.”
However, I continue to be surprised by this new place and new people. Some of these surprises are delightful, like when I learned that my host mom is a self-taught AI genius. Apparently, she uses the technology to create informational videos about how healthy eating can be a treatment for type 2 diabetes. The city of Quito has also surprised me by sequestering several climbing gyms, one of which we visited on Thursday. Climbing was a big part of my life in high school, and is still something I enjoy, so hopping on the wall felt weirdly like home.
Other experiences are off-putting, like witnessing beautiful cathedrals in the Historic Center, and learning that the intricate artwork was built by slaves. I’ve also experienced how conversations with my cohort can quickly turn from a topic I feel comfortable and knowledgeable about to something totally foreign, making me feel like an outsider. Likewise, I’ve quickly exceeded the limit of my pre-research on Ecuador politics and found myself lost in conversations about the Ecuadorian election process.
Getting to know a place and a people is definitely a process. I’m working on learning how to notice what’s around me, communicate with my group and my host family, and choose love instead of judgement when I encounter something that makes me uncomfortable.
I’ve been thinking about how being a follower of Jesus means being “in the world but not of the world.” I take that to mean that we are invested in and connected to the place/people around us, but we shouldn’t expect to feel perfectly settled and comfortable. I do experience that tension in Michigan, but being in Ecuador has definitely made me think about this more often.
Ecuador lesson #2:
You can have a home in a place that still feels unfamiliar. You can have beautiful relationships with people that in many ways you don’t know and don’t understand.
That all makes it sound like my time here has been really hard. In some ways it has, but truly the majority has been much more on the “delightful” side than the “uncomfortable” side so far. To cite one more example: trying guanabana ice cream!
¡Hasta pronto!
-Megan
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