I have a home-stay with an Ecuadorian family, (which I will elaborate on in more detail later) and take three classes. My classes began in late august and run until the end of October. Every monday, wednesday, and friday from 9am to 12pm I study Kichwa, the indigenous language spoken by over 2 million people in the Andean Region. Due to the importance of this language to the Andean region, it fits in nicely with my "Andean Studies Program." My second class, which is every Wednesday from 4pm to 6pm, is called, well, "Andean Studies." This is a class that highlights the political, social, and economic characteristics of the region. We read case studies on race, or discuss current political events. It's a pretty cool class. My final class, is called "Qualititative Research methods" and is taught every monday from 4pm to 6pm. This class is designed to help us for our final class, which is a 25 page independent research project which is carried out during the last month of my program. In this class, we learn how to do research.
After my classes end, we go on our program study trips. From October 31 to November 7 we go to Maachu Pichu. From November 9 to the 19th we have a rural indigenous homestay in a village called Cotacachi. We live with bilingual families who speak Kichwa and Spanish. Its an opportunity to contextualize our language! From the 21st to the 24th we go the the Amazon jungle. Then, from November 25 to December 17, we conduct our independent research project.
MY HOST FAMILY
So, my host family. Well, my house is really nice. It`s three stories and has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. I have one whole level to myself and a private bathroom.
My bedroom
The view from my windowI have a host mom, host dad, host brother who lives with us, and another host brother who lives next door. My host mom is named Cecilia. She is, well, a rather strong woman. She expresses her opinions freely. She pretty much wears the pants in the relationship. At times it can be a little difficult to bear, and at that point, I pretend that I don´t understand what she´s saying. I mean, she tells me to do my homework and to call her anytime I go out to make sure i´m not dead. But she cares. Which is nice, since i´m the 39th host student she´s had. Yes. 39th. First one came in the spring of 1990, when I was a mere 2 years old.
My host dad is pretty laid back. He´s a gynecologist, as is my host brother (who doesn´t live with me) and my sister in law. yeah, I´ve got three in my family!! Which is good, in case I have any problems...haha. Him and I talk about American sports and watch the Dodgers together. He also knows a lot about the US cuz my whole family has been to more places in the US than I.
My host dad and IMy host brother who lives with me is named Gabriel. He´s really awesome. He´s 28. Unlike his older brother and his father, he decided to sell cell phones instead. Go figure.
My other host brother (the gyno who doesn´t live with me) is really nice as well. His hame is Nelson Xavier. His wife, Mercedes, is cool also. She´s a gyno also. They´re really cool except when we´re all eating dinner together and the topic turns to "How was your day at work?" Then the topic of conversation gets, well, a little, hairy...
My cunada, MercedesWe also have a live in maid named Milagro. She´s 17 and lives with us. Well, she lives in a modified closet. She´s pretty cool but as of today is "sick." She says she has embrujada, which literally means being possessed by a witch. So she went back to her village to get treated by the local shaman. My mom is convinced she`s pregnant, yet interestingly, the three doctors in the family, don´t think so. And after all, they really should know...
My maid and ISo that´s my family!!!
And that's my program!!
I guess I should also include some other cool contact information, if ya'll are interested:
My mailing address is:
De las Hiedras
N44-43 y Rio Coca (7A)
Quito, Ecuador.
My Ecuadorian cell phone # is:
099735134
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