I traveled with Dr. Stacey Lambert, Director of the Latino Mental Health Program, to Guayaquil, Ecuador on Friday, July 27th and returned to the US on Tuesday, July 31st. It was a very short trip, but full of experiences that we will never forget. We arrived in Ecuador at 10 pm that Friday, and were greeted by Don Enrique and Doña Marta Lucero, Dr. Cynthia Lucero's parents, and by Don Johnny and Doña Carla Gonzalez. Johnny is the General Director of the Centro Ecuatoriano Norteamericano in Guayaquil, and he is the person who coordinates our students' experiences in their second year immersion in Ecuador.

TRIP TO CUENCA

Saturday morning we went on a car trip to Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador, with over half a million habitants. It is over 7,000 feet above sea level, and it takes between 3 and 4 hours of driving up a windy road through the mountains to get there.On our way, we passed through El Cajas National Park, which has beautiful views and many lakes in the mountains.

Pictures don’t make justice to the magnificent mountains and vegetation of that area. The temperature dropped considerably (hint: do not wear shorts if you are going there!). During our stay in Cuenca we visited a number of sites, including a hat factory where people make hats by hand, several churches including the old and the new cathedrals, and several markets, where we appreciated the hand made clothing and other items made by the indigenous people of the area. During the trip we were able to see differences in climate, housing, and clothing between Cuenca and Guayaquil, which is on the coast. Everyone was friendly and eager to help. We returned on Sunday afternoon to get ready for a long day on Monday.

We left Boston on Saturday morning (we were at Logan at 6 am!), stopped in Miami and arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica in the afternoon. The people from UNIBE (Universidad Iberoamericana) were ready for us at the airport and took the students to the host families and took me to the hotel. I am accompanying the students until Friday of their first week here to help them settle for what will be a month experience, and to solidify our relationship with UNIBE, as it is our first immersion experience here.

Today is my birthday and it was the best birthday ever because we spent the day at a head start program. We arrived at the head start program at eight in the morning and met Ms. McGee. Ms. McGee is the principal/director of the head start and she gave us a lot of information on how the head start program works and some information on the children who go there. Our group was divided between three classrooms of four and five year olds. Spending time with these kids was the most fun I have had in a long time. We worked on puzzles, read stories, danced, and just talked. The kids didn't want us to leave and I don't think any of us wanted to leave either. All of the children we worked with were African-American and Ms. McGee told us the children would be interested in touching our hair because our hair is different from theirs. The first thing that happened to me when I approached a little girl is she went straight to my hair. It was interesting to see the childrens perspective of differences between skin color and hair type. I also continued to think how these children who are four and five are going to view New Orleans and what happened there. They were born after the storm and do not have a view of what New Orleans looked like before.

Just an update on how things are going so far. Yesterday we teamed up with camp restore and worked at a site in the lower 9th ward called the Village. The Village is a community center headed by an amazing man named Mack. When we first arrived on site we had a reflection group with more than 50 other volunteers and everyone had to say something about their experience thus far. The whole reflection was very powerful and a positive experience. The thing that stuck out for me was how devastated the area still is and how much hope people still have. Mack said that 75 percent of people in this area still aren't in their homes.

Applying to MSPP

A guest blog by 2nd year Clinical Psychology, PsyD student, Judi Pasino