I am definitely going to spend the majority of my time here in Ecuador, close to the capital, if not in the capital itself. Once I have gotten a really strong grasp of the language, then I'm going to start to go and do a little bit more traveling, a little more exploring.

James: Who doesn't want to see the Andes Mountains? Who doesn't want to go see the Amazon Basin? Who doesn't want to go to the Galapagos Islands? Who doesn't want to go on the Nariz rail? There are just so many sights to see, so much to do.

I thought, teaching, being a teacher, I do have time to travel in the summer, if I'm not working. Once I decide, do I truly want to continue down that profession, for the rest of my life, or do I want to change and get into a profession, where in reality you might have two or three weeks of vacation for the year.

I decided that I need to make sure that I am taking this opportunity to get a lot of traveling done, before I come back to the States and possibly in a job where I'm really rooted in an area where I really don't have that opportunity to travel around the world as much as I would right now.

Angela: Well, I'll tell you what, James...

James: I hope that answered your question.

Angela: Yes it does, and I'll tell you, James, I'm ready to hop on a plane and go down to Ecuador right now. [laughs] You know, it just sounds so marvelous and I know you're a scientist, for anybody who listens to this interview. You taught chemistry, so I imagine that going to the Galapagos Islands would be a real treat for you. It just sounds so marvelous. And the Andes, I can see that now. I guess, I'll have to travel by my armchair and by TV for right now. I imagine you are taking a ton of photographs.

James: Well, I don't want to disappoint you.

Angela: I'm telling you.

James: I'm not going to answer that question directly.
[laughter]

James: We'll say that once you've traveled for a while, it's always great to communicate where you have been to your friends, to family. At the same time, sometimes you just want to sit back, relax, and just take a moment, and just take it in like our ancient ancestors used to, who didn't have cameras.

They didn't have a medium like we have, to just instantly grab a photo with it, send it through the Internet to millions of people. Sometimes we just need to sit back, and to just enjoy nature, in and of itself.

Angela: You know, James, let me ask you this. Your classmates, are they college students, are they all adults, or what level are they at, in terms of age and experience, I guess?

James: Sure, sure. That's a great question because it's interesting, every week I walk into the school and there's some people, like me, that are here for the long term, and there's some people that are just here for a few weeks.
I ran into a group of students who recently graduated from universities in Korea. They have been here and they were I would say at the Language School, for around two months. After those two months, well right now in fact, they are in suddenly the jungles of Ecuador doing volunteer work. These guys range from around 21 to 26 or 27 years old.

I found some people who have retired, and they just love traveling. A funny couple I met, they said they retired in 2001 and they started traveling in 2001, and haven't stopped since.

Angela: Oh, my goodness, I'm so jealous. [laughs] What is your favorite food down there in Ecuador? I know you've talked about the fruits, they sound marvelous, and the juices, and everything like that. Principally you're a vegetarian, so what do you like to eat?

James: My goodness. Well, I'll tell you, as much as I'm close to a vegetarian, I do still like some of the fish which they have here, and the most popular fish here is the corvina. I've had it prepared so many different ways that it's almost like a new dish every time I sit down to the table to eat.

In terms of fruits, my goodness, the granadilla [grenadia], that's definitely one of my favorite fruits. It looks like a grenade, and it has an outer covering that's hard, you have to bang it against the table to get it open. Once you open it, there are just a ton of sweet seeds that you eat...
[audio breaks up]

James: ...picture that I'm painting. It's one of the nicest and sweetest fruits that you can taste. It sort of looks like a grenade except with an outer covering that's just harder, so you actually have to hit against table to open it. Once you've cracked into it, then you can open it and deep inside it has a very fruity - just a very smooth and sweet liquid
Angela: You're sound cut... Excuse me, you're sound cut off, I couldn't hear what it looks like.

James: OK. It looks really, it sort of looks like a grenade except with an orange cover, and it's very hard cover, so you actually have to hit against something to open it. Once you've cracked into it, then you can open it and deep inside it has a very fruity - just a very smooth and sweet liquid. You eat it like an oyster, let it glide to the back of your throat, savor it for while and then you swallow it. But, it has one of the nicest sap... that I've ever tasted.

Angela: Mmm, that's sounds really good.

James: Maybe six or eight different types of bananas, from small bananas to large bananas, brown or red, bananas that are green, of course. I've had different shapes - they are all some variation of banana.

Anytime you travel, a world of opportunities just opens up in front of your very eyes. Those of us who try to be wise just reach out and grab it. I've seen people come down and they really haven't gained that much from the experience. I think, it's because their minds are closed and narrow. I've seen others come down, [break in audio] They have taken every opportunity they can to talk to people, to gain the wisdom from that source.
[break in audio]

James: Invest themselves in people around them, it is an experience that is worthwhile. The chance to sit back and read poetry that I hadn't read in such a long time, have a chance to go out and commune with nature. I've lived in California for seven years and haven't done yoga once. I come down to Ecuador and I've done yoga. I've had an opportunity to really invest myself in who I am and what I'm about. I came here to learn Spanish and I'm doing that, but I'm also here to knock about abolition, to improve who I am and be able to communicate better with those around me.

To take some time to read great historical works, which I'm actually enjoying, I'm learning. I love having those deep conversations. Sometimes we're too busy in our hurried American lives to stop and actually have those conversations. This definitely has been an experience that has just not just met but exceeded my expectations. I just hope that it will continue to go on in this fashion.

Angela: It's really interesting because I have interviewed a few other students. I did have one student who mentioned almost exactly what you're mentioning - they studied hard and went to college. And when they went to college, their love for learning evaporated, almost disintegrated in the stress and the rush to get things done. It's only when she went to study abroad that she recaptured her love of learning. I guess, it's an unfortunate comment on our life in the United States right now.

James: We value achievements of a certain type. When you pull yourself away from this very goal?oriented and achievement-oriented lifestyle we are used to in the United States, you don't even have time to remember what life is really about. You have time to remember what it was like when you were a kid. One day stretched on into eternity when you were a child.

Well, now sometimes you get up and go to sleep at the end of the day and don't realize what happened during that day. I think one of the most important things any person can do is to break up your normal routine. To get out of the habits that we form because once you start doing the same things over and over again, pretty soon it becomes so routine that you're not living your life anymore. You're just going through the motions.

Anyone that studies abroad will tend to break away from that. They tend not to go through the motions. They sit back and remember "Oh yeah, life is about living. It's about knowing the people. It's about learning, loving, caring and observing."

And I think just pulling away from the American system or the system back at home where you are very, very driven to accomplish this for your job to accomplish this in your church, to accomplish you know so many different things in our lives, but when we're here, we get a chance to sit back and relax and you know tap back into what life is really about.
 
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