At long last, yesterday I finally met my host family! I was so nervous about it- what if they didn’t like me, what if we couldn’t understand each other at all, what if there were 12 kids and 5 dogs and 3 chickens in the house, what if they saw my last name and were disappointed I didn’t speak Spanish??
In a little ceremony in the courtyard of the training center, they called the family’s name and then mine, and as I walked toward them immediately my host mom gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek (as is customary in Ecuador), and my host sister did the same. They were all smiles as they helped me with my luggage out to their Hyundai Tucson where I also met my host brother, who is a little shy. I gather that his name is Miguel, or Mig, and I am now sleeping in his room. He is 19 and wears a lot of Hollister. My sister, Estefy, is 22 and graduating from college next weekend with a degree in finance and marketing! I told her my real sister’s name was also Stefanie, and she said “Now you have two sisters Stefanie!” She is a total sweetheart, and speaks the best English in the family because she spent a summer in Colorado. My host mom is really sweet too, but doesn’t speak any English at all, so until my Spanish improves Estefy will have to help translate. I met my host father later, but he was working all day so I still don’t know him quite as well as everyone else.
In the car, I learned that there are two older siblings who don’t live at home because they are married with children (my host mom has 5 grandkids!) and that day was one of their birthdays, the 3rd birthday of Jose. And I was going to the party with them. We arrived at my new house and about 15 minutes later we were back in the car, headed to the oldest brother’s house. His house, by the way, is gorgeous!! 3 stories, really modern, with a nice kitchen and spiral staircases, and a big yard with a swing set for the kids. We were pretty much the first ones there, but soon the family came piling in: about 25 cousins, sisters, nieces and nephews. Everyone greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and told me their names, very few of which I could remember.
We sat down to lunch, which was turkey and gravy, veggies, potatoes, and Coca Cola. To accommodate everyone, there were multiple tables and chairs of various sizes and it reminded me a lot of Thanksgiving at my Uncle Tom and Aunt Kim’s house each year. I offered to help with dishes, and afterwards there was cake (actually 2 cakes- one of which little Jose got to stick his face in) and of course, DANCING. The host and hostess moved the living room furniture, a younger cousin pulled out his Blackberry tablet and connected it to the stereo, and over 2 hours of dancing commenced. I hung back at first, but soon realized I had no choice but to partake. Public dancing is something I only do in the presence of many friends (and usually in the presence of a few dirty Shirleys), but this weekend was absolutely all about letting go and getting out of my comfort zone. Well, mission accomplished. I’m so glad I did though, because later Aunt Mildred (who you will hear lots more about!) told me that out of the three Peace Corps volunteers the family has hosted, I am the only one that danced with them. She is convinced it is because of my “sangre latina”, because she says most Americans don’t have heart, but I do. Aunt Mildred also has pretty good English, so I spoke to her a lot that day and today as well. She is very religious, and said she would pray for me since I am far from my family and miss them.
Today was just a relaxing day. I spent most of the day in the kitchen with my host mom and Aunt Mildred chatting and eating. I let it slip to Aunt Mildred that my computer was broken, and was giving me an error message when I tried to turn it on the night before. I said I was sad because I wanted to email my family and friends, but couldn’t. After lunch she told my host mom, who told Miguel, who tried to fix my laptop for me without success. Mama told me I should have told her right away, it’s her job to know these things! She said she had a friend who could help, and whipped out her list of phone numbers. Meanwhile, Aunt Mildred had us lay our hands on my computer and we said a prayer that God would help fix it and that he would bless me and help me. Five minutes later, we were on our way to Mama’s friend’s house, who is an engineer. Sure enough, she took out my hard drive, backed it up, rebooted the system, and my computer is as good as new! Well, at least as good as it was. When my computer turned back on and the log-in screen came up, I looked over at Aunt Mildred and she had a Bible open with tears in her eyes. Her prayer had worked! She was almost as happy as I was. I can tell she really likes me, and she calls me “mi preciosa”. Tomorrow, she offered to take my on the bus back to the Peace Corps training center for my first real day of training.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I may not have understood most of what people said to me, and vice versa, but I’m very lucky to have been placed with such a loving family. I’m sure there will be more fun stories to come!
One last thing- This blog is definitely open for everyone to read (otherwise I wouldn´t post blogs on Facebook!), but I feel totally lame that I only have 3 followers, so if you read it, follow it! I´ve had some friends in other countries tell me they are keeping up with me, so I just want to know who all is reading! Thanks guys!
