GETTING CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

Personally, I like to understand and enjoy the distinctive elements of a culture of a place.Therefore, the following are some places that I would like to visit again in my next trip to Ecuador.

Baños City.

By Hannelore Hopfe (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0
 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Baños City is located near the Tungurahua volcano. Therefore, during my stay at Baños, I was astonished to see the spring waterfalls. The process of its natural state begins with the volcano heating thermal spring pools, thereby serving as a hot spring spa resort for tourists. The next day, I visited the Zoo in that area, another wonderful experience because I could have a close view of the most magnificent bird, the Condor, which is endangered of extinction. The main church in the city of Baños was designed during the colonial era.   Inside the church I observed a collection of murals depicting local miracles attributed to the Virgin of Holy Water.

 

Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas   

By calliopejen [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.via 

Wikimedia Commons practices

Even though, I grew up in Santo Domingo City, it wasn’t until high school that I learned about the Tsachila tribe.  I had a high school project about the Tsachila community where I had the opportunity to visit the Tsachila tribe.  In one of my visits to the community I witnessed the celebration of the Kasama.  The Kasama, is a celebration for the beginning of a new era “new year”.  It occurs in April and coincides with Holy Saturday for Catholics. During the celebration, I was fascinated with their hospitality, dances, food and moreover with their beliefs in using medical plants to cure almost everything. The Tshachila tribe is well known for its Shamans which receive an intensive training in medical knowledge with traditional practices