MI SEGUNDA FAMILIA

The majority of people would say that living with a family in another country is by far the best way to learn about the culture and learn the language. Until January 6, none of our BCA group knew where we would be staying for the next four and a half months. Unlike most programs where the host families are assigned prior to leaving, BCA waits until the directors get to know us better so that they can assign us to a family where they believe we will fit best.

The afternoon after our last morning of orientation, everyone met back up in the same room we had been going to for the past few days. Daniel, Miguel Andres and Marta began handing out papers to us that were filled out by our assigned families. Everyone was so excited to see how many brothers/sisters they were going to have, if they had pets and where they were going to live. Once everyone had the papers, we began asking our directors where we lived in comparison to all of our other friends so that we could locate ourselves on the map. I think we were driving the directors a little crazy with all of our questions but we were too excited about it.

After nearly an hour of asking about each other’s families, Daniel announced that he was going to meet all of our families at the hostel and that they would be coming over shortly to meet us. Let me just add here that all of the excited feelings quickly turned into excited/anxious/nervous feelings. All of the other BCAers that we had become such good friends with already, would now be leaving to go live with a family that we have never met. We all sat there impatiently looking out the window, just waiting to see the 35 families walking toward the building. Miguel Andres was still there in the room with us and he said that when they all come in, they would take turns announcing who they were there to pick up and then we were to take all of our things and leave with them.

The first family walked through the door and we began to clap…not sure it was because we were excited to see whose parents they were or because of nerves and we didn’t know what else to do…maybe both. The whole crowd of people began filing in and stood at the front of the room; some families had babies, some were single mothers, some were older couples. Until that same morning, they didn’t know who they would have living with them either so they didn’t know what we look like, and we didn’t know what they look like. One by one they would step towards the front and say something like, “my son/daughter is….”. All of the parents were so excited to see their “son/daughter” stand up and when we did, we ran up to meet them and hug them. Everyone clapped each time. This process made us feel like we were being adopted into a very loving family and actually became emotional for many of us. There was just so much excitement and whatever all of the other mix of feelings were, I’m not really sure. When my host parents called me, I went up to hug them and the first thing my host mom said to me was, “hola, mi corazón” which translates to, “hello, my heart”. Both of my host parents were SO excited to meet me! Even within the first two minutes, I knew I was going to love them.

 

Driving back to my new house was not awkward at all. I was afraid that they would be asking me questions and trying to get to know me without me knowing how to say it in Spanish. However, my host mom, Paty, studied abroad in Indiana and was an English teacher for years. Even if I didn’t know something, she was able to help me out. My host father, Galo, on the other hand doesn’t understand much English. I also have a host brother and sister, Pablo who is 27 and Maria (Mae) who is 22, but they don’t live here anymore. They live together in an apartment about 5 minutes away from the house but they visit pretty often. Actually, they are both rrreeeallllyyy good at karate… national champions to be exact. Pablo teaches younger kids so of course I asked if they wanted to teach me…I will be learning here very soon. J I also have a grandpa, Tata as they call him, who lives right next door. He is Mama Paty’s father and he has been living there ever since her mother passed away.

When I arrived at the house I couldn’t get over how cute it was. First we need to be let in a gate to our little street so I feel very safe here. The guards all know who I am now so it’s pretty cool. The outside of my house is adorable and it has a bird bath, hummingbird feeder and plenty of plants.

 

The inside is perfect and I already feel right at home. I was given my own room (Pablo’s old room) and I have my own bathroom!!

 

 

I have two dogs, two cats, a bird and a fish. From inside my room I have a glass door that leads to the room where the animals are and I am often visited my one of our dogs, Leo. Sometimes he even makes his way out and around to wake me up in the morning by jumping right up into my bed. He reminds me SO much of little miss Mya it makes me laugh.

 

 

 

After all of my things were placed into my closet it was time to eat. Everyone was there, Mama Paty, Papa Galo, Pablo, Mae, Mae’s boyfriend Fran from Columbia, and Tata. This dinner wasn’t awkward for me either which pleasantly surprised me. The dinner was delicious: burritos, chicken soup and chocolate cake for dessert. I did end up trying some guacamole on my burrito but I can’t say I was the biggest fan. After dinner everyone went into the living room to hang-out and chit-chat. I ended up even skyping with my family back home so it was nice that they all got to meet each other the first night. They love that we have alpacas and think the pictures that I have on of them on Facebook are so cute.

I am absolutely loving it here and am so thankful to be living with the Reyes family. I can already see coming back to Quito to visit them  20 years  from now. Life is good.