First week in Ecuador

Hello Everyone! My name is Becca and I am from CMU. I just started my internship at the Ministry of the Environment in Ecuador on Monday. Although I have only just begun to become acquainted with the Environmental Policies here, it has been really interesting. Did you know that Ecuador is the first constitution to actually identify the rights of nature? The constitution was just written in 2008 with much influence from now President Correa, a PhD in economics. It reads like a modern foundation's mission statement. I can't even count how many times the word "sustainable" is used. It is truly revolutionary in so many ways. This constitution has also given so much leverage to the Ministry of the environment. Besides that the office culture is young, passionate and dynamic. It will certainly be an exciting place to work this summer!

I included this picture of the intersection where I catch the bus. This was an unusual day because it wasn't completely overly laden with traffic like it usually is. It was a national holiday! I think it captures the essence of a modern city nestled in the mountains, with unofficial housing developments (squatters) ascending up the mountainside.