Academic Art and Cultural Exhibitions Project

Ecuador, Spanish for "Equator" was first inhabited by the Incas in 1526, but the first settlements of Spanish in this area were in 1534 and 1538, by explorer Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador.

Ecuador is a country in western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator
 with a wide range of natural formations and climates, from the desert-like southern coast to the snowcapped peaks of the Andes mountain range to the plains of the Amazon Basin 

The flag retains the three main colors of the banner of Gran Columbia, the South American republic that broke up in the 1830s. The yellow color represents sunshine, grain and mineral wealth, the blue represents the sky, sea and rivers and the read represents the blood of patriots spilled in the struggle for freedom and justice.

Hilda Vasquez (4/29/1932 - 6/10/2012)

This is my grandmother Hilda Vasquez, she was born and raised in Ecuador during the 1930's. She raised in the capital Quito and her father was a man from the military. All my grandmothers' stories were about Ecuador and how the time period was back then. Back in the 1930's the women stayed home and become housewives, as well as the daughters. When it came to education my grandmother was taken out of school at a very young age to learn how to clean, cook and sew at home with her while her brothers went off to college and the military. During that time period everyones mindset was very "old school", men went to work and women stayed home. Over time education became more important and more enforced. When I was born my grandma became very on top of my education, she wanted me to do my best so I could get into a great college and have a successful career.

5/12/14

Quick write: Generate a high level question concerning your project for a peer editor.

What is something I would need to change ?

5/9/14

Quick Write: Pick a country other than the U.S. that connects with you either because of ancestry, birthplace, or any other reason. Explain why you connect to this country.


My grandmother and my mother were born in Ecuador and  they use to always tell me how beautiful it is over there and since I am half Ecuadorean it's only right that I do my project based on this country. 

Mind map

click here to see my mind map for Diving bell and the Butterfly

4/30/14

Quick write

Since this is a free quick write I just wanted to let everyone know that I am losing my voice. I sound like a boy going through puberty and no one seems to understand me. Until I meet up with my mom later to go shopping I am done talking for the day, if anyone wants to talk to me they can text me or try to understand my gangsta' sign language. The Lord knows how hard I tried to avoid getting this cold, holding my breath and moving my face away whenever people start coughing or sneezing around me. I snooze I lose! I really wish I was in my boyfriends house, sleeping in his soft warm bed and eating soup.

4/28/14

Quick Write: Think about one of the most important memories you have. Indulge yourself in it. Can you taste it? Smell it? Feel it? What if that memory were taken away from you? Would it still exist?


The most important memory to me would be the last time I had saw my grandmother. I can feel the warmness in her room, the smell of her nail polish, and the metal pressing against my thighs as I sat on the air vents. If this memory was taken away from me, I don't know how'd I feel if that memory was taken away from me because it is something only I can personally remember, with my feelings and thoughts of that moment included but it would still exist, just not from my point of view. My mother and sister were there that day so the only way I'd be able to hear about that moment would be through them. It wouldn't be the same. 

Final Reflection: You previously interpreted the quote “I think, therefore I am.” Interpret the quote once again as it relates to Clive. In other words, does Clive know he exists? Does he exist? What does all of this say about memory? Finally, what’s your brainy explanation for Clive only remembering love and music? Post this final reflection on your blog.

Clive does exist and he knows he exist because of his memory of love and music, you can't remember something that didn't happen so if you can then that means that it did which means you were there when it took place and in order for you the be there you have to physically exist as well. "I think therefore I am." In order to think you have to have think about something. Thinking about an events that took place requires you to have a memory, thinking about how you're feeling requires for something to happen in order to get you to feel anything, and in order to have a memory to make all of this happen you have to be there when that moment is taking place. Your brain records moments that you witness, it records what the eyes are watching, what the heart is feeling and what the brain is thinking. So if you're thinking, you do exist. Only memories, thoughts, and feelings can happen to those whom exist.

4/23/14 - 4/24/14

Quick Write: What does imagination mean to you? How important is it? What about memory? Can you have one without the other?


To me imagination is the creative part in your brain, you imagine things and you create things in your mind. It is important to have imagination because if not then it's as if your brain is just blah and boring. However, memory to me is more important because a memory is something you remember that actually took place, something that was real and not made up in your imagination. But can you have one without the other? Of course you can, remembering something as small as what you did 5min ago and not be imaginative is very possible, or not being able to remember anything because of some type of problem going on in your brain but having an imagination is very possible as well.