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"Keeping the Otavalenos Culture",,"My Humanities Moment started when I moved with my family from Utah to Ecuador in July 2019. My family is originally from Venezuela but moved to the United States many years ago. I am currently living in Ecuador because my dad is the mission president for the Church of Jesus Christ in the Quito North area. This has required us to travel to multiple cities; one of those cities is Otavalo. I thought it was going to be like any other modern, updated country, but when I arrived in Otavalo I realized that everyone was dressed in their traditional clothing. I became very interested in their attire, since all the other cities I visited in Ecuador people wore the common clothing we see in the United States. Therefore, I began to ask around for details about their clothing and if there were symbolisms behind each piece.
The females in Otavalo, starting from a young age, wear a white blouse which is embroidered with flowers. Having the shirt embroidered by hand represents the dedication and wealth of the woman wearing it. The skirt and Alpargatas vary in color depending on the tribe the person was born into. Most Otavaleno females use a black skirt with black Alpargatas. Then comes the shawls and scarves, that depending on the material and thickness, represent the wealth in the family. They use these shawls as a cover-up to protect them from the sun. The most interesting part for me was the jewelry. Of course if you have gold that shows how rich the person is, but that is not it; Otavaleno women wear 10 or more gold necklaces so that people can see she is royal or rich.
The males wear white shirts and pants with a blue poncho, and on special occasions they wear hats as well. Again the Alpargatas depend on the tribe, but the males usually use white Alpargatas. The interesting thing that all males do is grow their hair from a young age, maintain it in a braid and never cut it. Even the government understands the importance of them doing this, so that when Otavalenos enter the army they are not required to cut their hair. The length of the hair, when they are older, represents the wisdom in the man. They say “ the longer the grey hair is the wiser they are.” I thought it was fascinating that their hair represents wisdom for them and how they continue to believe in that.
I began to ask the Otavalenos why they continued to wear the clothing that their ancestors wore. One sir said “ It is a respect for those in our past and we continue to honor them by maintaining the culture.” That response shocked me because even though my family and I kept some culture, we didn’t honor the whole culture of our ancestors. I realized how important it was for the Otavalenos to maintain their whole culture and to teach their children at a young age the life of their ancestors. I admired how whether rain or shine, young or old, male or female, rich or poor ;they continued to embrace their culture proudly.
This moment made me realize that there are smaller towns and cities that still keep their culture alive and do not modernize like the bigger cities do. This has influenced me to increase my knowledge and be more interested about new and different cultures. Since that moment I learned about the Otavalenos and their culture I became more interested in my own Venezuelan culture. I plan to pass this knowledge down to my future family so they can see how a culture can be so important to some people. I am grateful for this moment because it has opened my mind in seeing the power a culture can have in a life and how important it can be.
",,"Visiting a little city in Ecuador",,"July 2019","Esther Chacon, 18 year old student",,,,,,keeping-otavalenos-culture,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"My english class","Cross-Cultural Relations,Cultural History,Family,Modernity,Travel",https://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/383/Untitled_presentation-3.jpg,Text,,1,0
"How Baseball Leads to Profound Moments",,"This past summer, my son was offered an opportunity to represent the United States and play baseball in Belgium and Holland. Naturally, I took one for the team and volunteered to chaperone him on the 10-day tour. I had never been to the Continent, only to England and Scotland, and was eager to collect more stamps for my passport. I knew that traveling to these medieval cities and touring the places that I had only taught about would impact me, but I just didn't know how much.
Our first day, we took a day tour to Bastogne and spent time at the Battle of the Bulge Museum and the memorial there dedicated to the paratroopers and Patton's 3rd Army who fought and saved the town. Standing on top of the memorial and scanning the panoramic views of the village around us, I couldn't help but sense the honor and sacrifice so many made to hold that town. I can still smell the air, feel the breeze in my hair, and the pride I felt as I watched my 12-year-old son read the plaques dedicated to those men who fought so bravely to save the world.
It just so happened that the museum, which if you haven't visited I highly recommend, was also hosting an exhibit that contained art painted on sections of the Berlin Wall. It also had cars from East Berlin that were painted and represented the attitudes of the artists and their conceptions of liberty, freedom, confinement, denial and oppression. The pieces took my breath away...the visions these artists expressed on the symbol of the Cold War were hauntingly beautiful yet also loud and defiant. I will never forget them.
Our first baseball game wasn't until day 4 of our trip, and we arrived to my delight to a ball field that looked like it was built right after World War II...which it was. It was right next to the local airport that was still in use and I could visualize the GIs playing ball, teaching the Belgians the art of the game, sowing the seeds of peace and fraternity while healing the wounds of occupation and oppression for so long.
There are so many moments from this trip that moved me, but the one place that I will never forget and will always keep in my heart was the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I really have no words to express the sorrow, the inhumanity and the anger I felt as I moved through the house. The last room which held her personal diary, her writings, her stories instilled a sense of loss and sadness in me that I still can't express in the right words. It brought back memories of my grandparents' friends, one of whom had numbers tattooed on her arm. I didn't understand then what they meant, and I wish so much that I still had my grandparents here now so that I could understand what their friends went through. So I could continue to tell their story. The Anne Frank House exemplified Humanity. Life. And it showed what happens when we forget that we are all human and we all should see each other as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters. Humans.
",,,,"July 2019","Randee Wittkopf, 46, high school social studies teacher, mom, wife, sister, daughter and lover of the Humanities",,,,,,how-baseball-leads-to-profound-moments,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Professional Development.","Anne Frank,Baseball,Battle of the Bulge,Battlefield Monuments,Berlin Wall, 1969-1989,Cold War,Cross-Cultural Relations,Teachers,World War II (1939-1945)",https://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/338/matthew-t-rader-yXdJ8QVZlIA-unsplash.jpg,Text,,1,0
"The Inca Trail",,"Sure, I had studied the Incas in school. I knew about Machu Picchu or I thought that I did. ""You cannot judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes"" from To Kill a Mocking Bird describes my moment.
The trail went through the Andes, we were able to interact with local villagers. We were able to see how they lived, in the altitude where food was scare. It was eye opening. We camped along the trail, seeing more stars than I could have imagined. I was able to the see the Southern Cross in the sky, bringing up images of people using the stars as navigation points. The engineering of the trail and Machu Picchu spoke to the Incas' advanced society. That being said, the trail was tougher than anticipated. But worth the trip due to your view of Machu Picchu as you come up to it. It is a spiritual place and when I first saw it I could not move, I just stared at it.
Walking throughout the area brought to life for me all that I had studied. We were able to see the terrace farming concept, the temples, all at this altitude, making me wonder about how this was accomplished. The manpower needed. . . This has impacted how I teach the Incas to students. It enables me to tell stories that they might not be able to read about in the class, showing pictures from Machu Picchu. For me when I teach this to students it brings back the memories.",,"Hiking the Inca Trail, visiting Machu Piccu",,"March, 2002","Wendell Johnson, 52, Social Studies Teacher",,,,,,the-inca-trail,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Through professional development","Agriculture,Cross-Cultural Relations,Inca Civilization,Inca Trail,Lee, Harper,Machu Picchu,Peru,Teachers & Teaching,To Kill a Mockingbird,UNESCO World Heritage Site,World History",https://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/337/postcard.jpg,Text,,1,0