Mi casa es tu casa

The kindness of my host family can be summed in this story:

The first Sunday at breakfast I sneezed a couple times, and my host father, Fabian, kept saying, ¨gripa¨. After breakfast he told me to follow him, we took the compost up to feed our pig. Fabian then showed me all the plants they grow. Fun fact: cilantro is actually a Spanish word. He asked me what it was in English and I was like, ¨Si, cilantro!¨ He then took me to an aromatherapueatic plant. He instructed me to rub it in my hands then to breathe it in. So I did, and it smelt exactly like Vick´s! It felt so good to breathe it in. It was such a nice gesture and I was just taken aback by the kindness of my family. At that moment I knew that I am going to be okay this summer. It´s a struggle at times but I have a family here and they will always make me laugh.

Where I am living:
I live in Convalecencia, Cayambe. Downtown Cayambe is located at the foot of the mountain and the small community that I reside in is located up the mountain. Once you leave the downtown area of Cayambe and get to Convalecencia, the roads have no names, the houses no addresses. (Seriously, no street names or addresses!) Convalecencia is a farming community. My family has four cows, one pig, one horse, and 2 outdoor dogs. Being on a hill, everything is planted on a slant, which is interesting. Yesterday you would have found me digging for potatoes with a giant hoe on the side of a mountain! ha! My family grows potatoes, cilantro, some other herbs like mint and possibly some other vegetables. My family also has a small store that is attached to their house, there is just a window where people buy what they want. And Fabian built volleyball courts, it just sucks when the ball is thrown out of bounds and you have to run down the hill to get it. The view from my front door is just mountains and mountains, on a clear day you can see the snow covered top of Mount Cayambe, which is the highest point on the Equator.

Who I am living with:
I live with the Pullamarin Family, who are beautiful people.

Fabian is my host father, he is 35. He works as a farmer. He is genuinely a kind person and has the greatest laugh. My family loves to laugh which has made me feel very comfortable. Fabian speaks no english but he is interested in learning, often he will ask how to say some thing in English. He now knows all our farm animals names in English! His effort to learn is really comforting. He congratulated me the other night on how much my Spanish has improved since I got here, it was a proud moment for me.

Maria is my host mother, she is 33. She helps with the farm and running the store. I thoroughly enjoy her cooking. And she is a great mother to her two children. She also has an infectious smile! At first she spoke to me so quickly in Spanish, I often had to ask her to speak slowly in order for me to understand. Maria tries to learn English too but she just can´t pick up the English tongue, which is completely fine. It makes me laugh just when I try and speak their language but make a million mistakes!

Letty or Leticia is 12 years old. She is amazing! We come down to Cayambe together and run errands for her parents all the time. It is through Letty that I am learning Spanish. She is learning English in school and wants to learn more from me, its a great partnership. She had her English exam this morning and yesterday I was helping her out, it made me realize how challenging English actually is. Proud moment: last week she asked me to help her with math and well I have not done math in four years. I helped her anyhow, its a challenge for me to do math, let alone explain it to someone in Spanish but I was successful, I was so happy she understood me. It was proud moment because I am definitely grasping Spanish now (slowly but surely). Letty has a great disposition, and we spend lots of time together.

Jhon is 8 years old. His parents and sister always joke about how he is loco! And he is. He loves playing the radio loudly, he knows the words to all the songs and shouts them out. He is a fun loving 8 year old boy! He´s hilarious actually. His craziness reminds me of my 8 year old sister, Isabel (who I dearly miss). Letty and Jhon often bring me into their sibling rivarly, which always involves a lot of laughing.

So that´s a quick overview of my family. They are spectacular and I couldn´t be more blessed!! My first week at school was overwhelming but coming home I felt so relaxed, hanging out, playing volleyball, helping Letty with her homework, etc. This trip is very much about being with people, and the time I have spent with my family thus far is something I will always treasure.

love from the equator
mar