My Ecuadorian Family

I would like to preface this post with a response to one of my friends that said I have used “..too many big words” in my prior posts. 

Chase, I am in Ecuador and it is cool dude. 

Now that I have that taken care of, let me give everyone an update.

For the first three months I will train in country with other Peace Corps Trainees. I will live with a family here in Tumbaco. Tumbaco is a small city about 25 minutes from Quito. I was rather anxious to meet my host family. We had a ceremony last Saturday at the training compound where the PC handed us off to them. I was not sure if my family would like me, accept a relatively tall white guy, or speak any English. I was wrong on two of those accounts. They have taken me in as one of their own and taken me to seemingly every member of their extended family so they could meet the new “gringo” in the family. It is great meeting so many family members and to be so warmly greeted and welcomed. They continually ask what my religious beliefs are and are curious about many things in my life. I attended my first Mass here in Tumbaco on Sunday. It was very interesting and intriguing. That evening we went to the “Super Maxi”, an Ecuadorean equivalent to WaI-Mart and the “Padre” of the church stopped me and told me he was glad I came to church earlier that day. I had not met him before that evening but I suppose my skin color and stature stands out here. My host family is doing everything they can to make me feel welcomed and comfortable despite not having all the modern amenities.

The house that I live in is small three bedroom, two bath casita. It is quaint but very vibrant with life and coming and goings of family members. I was given my keys and was instructed to try and get into the house. This was much more difficult than I initially thought. I had to make it through three gates and the front door. The house is very “seguro y traquilo” as Luis, the father of the family let me know. The yard is overflowing with fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, and vegetation. I only recognized two of the plants off hand. There is an avocado tree in most yards and most people grow tomatoes. The tomatoes are not for salads though. They grow on a very tall vine and are for making one type of the many fresh juices here. Some of the fruit trees and bushes were planted, others are natural. The family has “pollitos”, chickens, in the back of the house. I asked Daniela, 10, what their names were. This was a typical Gringo mistake. She instructed me that they have no names because we are about to eat them. This is one of many transitions I will have to make, seeing my food walk around before it reaches my plate. I have tried more fresh fruits and juices here that I could have named mere weeks ago. Many Ecuadorians have told me how great the fruits and meats are because they contain no preservatives and are not processed in way. I actually introduced the word organic to their vocabulary. It was foreign to them because all things in Ecuador are organic and thus need not be labeled. The house I am in is surrounded by mountains as the training center was. I have been promised that the eldest son, Paul, will take me up to the top of the inactive volcano and have a look. He said that we can take a taxi to the top. There are so many taxis here and they are very inexpensive. The largest fare I have paid or even seen paid is 2 dollars which makes transportation very easy and cheap. The bus fare is 25 cents if the bus driver’s friend feels like collecting it. I took the bus today to the local market where I purchased many fresh fruits. The people in the market will let you try anything in hope that you will spend 50 cents on an enormous amount of fresh veggies and fruits.

I would say one thing that I am learning is that people are people all over the world. Little kids here love to play and fight. Adults speak about many of the same familial issues and children quarrel over the same little issues. Parents worry about their children and children think their parents are overbearing. I have not been here a week and I am only beginning to understand the people of Ecuador. However, what I have learned so far is immense and cannot merely be said in a simply blog post. Today on a board that has posted information for our training sessions was a quote that I feel sums up some of my first experiences here. “True learning and personal development begin only at the end of one’s comfort zone.”