Homestay in Cangahua

PC training involves placing us in local communities to learn the language and culture – I’m in the friendly (y tranquilo) town of Cangahua with five others from our entering group. I’m living in a modest house near the town plaza with the Espinosa-Charro family. They have 4 kids; the three oldest live and study in Quito and Ibarra and come home on weekends, and the youngest is 13-year-old Marisol, who I hang out and speak with quite a bit. Part of this involves playing middle school crush games and writing messages to each other in her friends’ secret note-passing language. My host mom and dad work usually 7 days a week. I barely see my host dad, and I see my host mom usually only at breakfast and dinner. I also have a special uncle who is around a lot and is very nice, but I can’t understand him at all.

I have my own room, which PC requires for a homestay. This is obviously nice for privacy, but I feel a little weird because no one else in my family has their own room. We all share a tiny bathroom which is a bit of an experience. I’ve already mentioned previously that toilet paper must go in a trash can instead of the toilet. Also, there are 14 toothbrushes (whose are they?), 1 towel, and 1 bar of soap in the bathroom. I don’t leave my stuff in there. The shower has an electric head to heat the water but it’s a roll of the dice to see if it will work and the other morning it jolted me when I tried to adjust it. All of this is obviously a bit of a change from what I’m used to, but I’ve never really had high standards for these things.

My mom makes some pretty good food in the kitchen, which again doesn’t really have the same standards of niceness as in the US. There’s no way to keep out all the flies. The difference between outside and inside is not as big here. There’s no need for heat or AC. I’m always given food (a lot of food) first – my mom told me the other morning that she wants to make sure I don’t leave skinny. This is a typical sentiment here.

We had my hermanita’s birthday the other night. It was a fun little fiesta. They sing happy birthday in spanish, and then in english, though no one really knows the words in english. Then Marisol bit the cake directly while her friends shoved her face in it. Afterward we played musical chairs. Good times.

Life is good, though PC training can be tiresome. Too much scheduling and structure for me – I’m ready for the wilds of Ecuador.