Made in Ecuador: International TU

Have you ever stopped to think about all the multicultural activities and interactions you encounter every day at Trinity? For a day, try to be mindful of how your activities reflect the convergence of nationalities, backgrounds and even globalization.
Every morning students wake up to the "magical" sounds of their alarm clock. Whether it be a celphone made in China, designed in Germany and sold by --the french franchise-- Target in Texas, that composition of plastic and metal is a symbol of our proximity to all the people and places involved in its manufacturing process.

Photos taken by Stephanie Avalos or her camera

Then most of us proceed to shower employing products of foreign design and local redistribution; followed by a change of clothes into a mix of brands, places and fabrics, all of which we merge together in order to express our global selves. Think about it next time you are walking around upper campus heading to class. Look around and think about the harmonious --and at times not so harmonious-- combination of places, styles and colors all in one same frame. Fashion allows us to become art in motion, and regardless of how many places and brands we combine we can achieve great visual harmony.
Then as we make our way to breakfast we go into Mabee and we see the same familiar faces waiting to assist us in the acquisition of our products. At the breakfast taco stand is Rosie who is from Germany but has lived in San Antonio for the greater part of her life. On the other corner is the Sushi stand, which has three Korean girls working for about three hours to make enough sushi for the rest of the day. Every once in a while they will make the "syncretic" California roll topped with Chipotle Spicy Mayonnaise. Straight ahead is the pasta stand, originally Italian, but at Maybee it has lots all cultural affiliation. To the right is the Home Zone, which in principle serves home-cooked-style meals, but I have yet to see anything being served there that resembles what a home-cooked meal is like at my home. But enough about food.

After breakfast students travel to upper campus and encounter other students, some from Texas, others from other states, some even from Ecuador ;). We all come from such a varied array of places and experiences. Every moment of our day somehow interrelates us to people and places we have never met or ever seen. This makes a world of difference to me and the way I perceive my life here at Trinity.