Mi Familia Ecuatoriana

We received lessons on culture and customs from our facilitators and learned that it is not acceptable for women to get drunk (seriously?!), it’s rude to take off your shoes in the house (what?!), and your family will pile mounds of food on your plate and be mad if you don’t finish it and accept seconds (okay, this is just like my mom). Needless to say, I was pretty worried about fitting in, but the Peace Corps staff did a really good job of advising us on the best way to avoid awkward situations.

My house is cute and small with a big gate out front and lots of fruit trees out back, including an avocado tree right outside my window. My host mom is Sonia, her husband is Javier, and their 10 month-old baby is Eileen, who is cute as a button and has curly red hair. Sonia is the nicest lady in the world and is pretty young and less traditional. She grew up on the coast in Esmeraldas (near the Colombian border) and worked in Spain for 2 years so she is pretty progressive. Her husband is very quiet but smiles a lot and seems very nice. Javier’s mother, Zoila, came over (I’m not sure if this was to check out the gringuita or to watch the baby) and she does not speak directly to me, but seems pleasant. They were told that their volunteer would know little to no Spanish (probably because I placed myself in the beginner level) so they were happily surprised that I could understand them somewhat and they could ask me questions slowly.

Embarrassing story #1: I was trying to ask if it was okay to boil water when I needed to, but could not, for the life of me, remember how to say “to boil” (hervir) so I had to walk out to the kitchen and act out what I was trying to say. My mom and grandma giggled with me a lot but when I walked back in my room, I heard my mom and grandma talking about me and my grandma said “que coraje” (what courage). My heart swelled.

I attempted to help my host mom with lunch (lunch is the largest meal here) and she let me chop some onions and lettuce and she made the rest of a delicious meal of menestra (beans), rice, chicken, and salad with avocado (she asked Javier to go get avocados from the store because I mentioned that I liked them). She also made fresh squeezed orange juice, which was the best I’ve ever tasted.

I am so happy today. This was one of my biggest worries, really forcing myself out of my comfort zone, and it’s been great so far. But, of course, being here does make me miss my own family, whom I still haven’t been able to call. No one will ever replace you guys.

My host mom said she would take me to an internet café tomorrow so hopefully I’ll be able to post these and call home. (My old thumbdrive wasn’t working and I couldn’t find my new one.)

<3 Chels