I think that we, as students of Lewis and Clark have a very unique relationship with ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. In fact I think students from areas all around the world are taught to break apart from the ideals of ethnocentrism which roots from a lack of open mindedness. Which I believe that absolutely everyone falls subject to at one point or another but I think that it’s an important step to recognizing the roots behind your biases and provide motivation for the cultivation of open minded perceptions. But as students our whole lives up to this point has been focused on trying to understand other cultures or ideas with an open mindset so that we can live our lives the way that we want to, given all the information we have learned throughout our lives.
Therefore I think it’s easy to say that there are instances in which I see things through my own cultural lens all the time here in Ecuador. But it would go against the purpose of a study abroad experience for me to determine which way is “better”. For example, the idea of lunch as the main meal is an Ecuadorian cultural practice that may seem strange to those, like me who grew up with Dinner being the primary source of food. But like any cultural experience approaching such differences with a system that ranks cultural practices misses out on understanding cultures as a whole. I believe that you’re entitled to your own opinion as you approach your lifestyle choices. But you have no right to assign a ranking to other cultures, because doing so encompasses the lack of understanding of the culture in general. That’s not to say you’re not entitled to your own opinion but approaching situations with hesitancy and closed perceptions detracts from your understanding of a cultural.
Therefore I would argue that is better to approach a cultural with a fresh lens than those clouded with preconceptions. However, this in itself is incredibly hard to do. I find myself all the time going back to cultural practices in Tanzania and how much I loved them. But those impressions then cloud my ability to absorb the culture of Ecuador. So while I truly believe that it’s better to approach a culture with an open mind, I also recognize how truly difficult that process is. But as an end goal, all we can hope for is that we try our best to understand and surround ourselves with the culture we’re in rather than cloud our impressions by our preconceived notions.