Traveling to Guayaquio

October 10, 2014 — I begin this project from the domestic departure terminal in Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, Ecuador. I await the delayed departure of the final leg of an all-day journey to Guayaquil, Ecuador.  I plan to spend four weeks in Guayaquil.

My Spanish skills will be tested this afternoon. None of the announcements are repeated in English. A regional airline will take me to my destination. I had better listen carefully.

Work brings me down here. My employer IBM sends me down here as part of a corporate philanthropic program. The company donates employee labor as an alternative to mailing checks. Collaborate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to projects that serve local needs and align with the company’s core competencies and values.

I come to Guayaquil as a member of a team of fifteen fellow employees. We represent ten different nations.  This includes five Asian countries, four European, and the U.S.

This will be my most complete immersion in a foreign culture.  It also represents the longest time I have spent in a single country outside of the U.S.  We will stay in a local hotel, outside of the business district. It is a local hotel.  This will be genuine immersion.