Women in Power Meeting

Another successful meeting at the Ecuadorian Ambassador's Residence. I was (partly) responsible for organizing it and getting one of the panel members (executive director of a foundation here in Quito) to come. One of the panelists was the former Vice-President of Ecuador, Rosalia Arteaga (who, by the way, should have also been the President when Abdala was kicked out), another was the U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador, and the other was the dean of students of a bilingual high school here. All the panelists were women and spoke about women in leadership roles.

A common thread that went among all four panelists was the fact that, as women, we need to believe in ourselves, remain truthful to our values/beliefs and families, accept people as they are and understand their strengths/weaknesses to better use them to our advantage, and focus on our work as professionals and role models rather than get caught up in the battle of the sexes. It was a very enlightening and enriching talk, and I was able to converse with some great people. The moderator did a wonderful job and everything came together so smoothly that you never would have imagined some of us were pulling our hair out to pull it off!

You don't know how hard it is to put together a meeting of this magnitude (and we only had 30 guests!) until you are part of the planning committee, so it is no wonder that some people sort of "take it for granted" and make trouble where there should be none. We almost found ourselves in a riot as some ladies got real upset that we are no longer going to email out the newsletter, but rather let them go to the web site and check it out (they seemed to think we were excluding them and playing favorites or taking away some inherent right they have to get the newsletter directly to their inbox). It is just a little embarrassing when older ladies, who are supposedly in it for their contribution to Ecuadorian society and charities, get into a shouting match at the Ambassador's personal residence over a newsletter...

Well, from what I've heard this has not been the first time and I doubt it will be the last...

Welcome Back

We are back home and getting back into things. Lots of work coming up - TEFL starting in September, two workshops for Thomson Heinle for Monday and Tuesday (that they just asked me to do today), the kickoff of the CEC Summer Reading Program on Wednesday, check signing on Thursday, a luncheon on Friday, an art exhibition at the end of September and jazz concert at end of October for Damas NyB, the Christmas Bazaar mid-November... Well, I've got a lot coming up. Which is fun. Until I find a great book and want to rest for a spat. Then it makes things seem reeeeeaaaaaaal tedious.

Lunch with the Ambassador

OK, so it technically wasn't lunch, but on Tuesday we did have a meeting with the damas group at the Ambassador's residency in Quito, and it was quite a nice time. Ambassador Linda Jewel seems like an amazing person, and Ecuador, in my opinion, is very luckly to have her, especially during the presidency of Correa, which, at times, is a bit inflammatory. At the meeting she spoke about relations between the two countries and gave a lot of insight into how the U.S. plans to handle issues in Ecuador in the next couple years. After the last ambassador, I would say this is a wonderful, pleasant change.

And the house! It is a gorgeous, colonial mansion, so amazing! The grounds alone are remarkable, and the art within lovely and beautiful (part of the ART in Embassies program, I was to find out). Anyhow, it was a great day - informative, interesting, and great for networking. I met some important people from the Embassy, connected with some new friends, and even met (for the first time) a woman who happens to be "related" to me (through my husband). It was nice to see all the "damas" again, and I am so glad I went. No meetings now for the next two months, but I plan to try and remian active in the organization, regardless.