Carly V.- Blog Post #4

My host family are the Mogollon's. The family consists of our host dad Jorge who is an engineer, our host mom Mary who is a housewife, their daughter Gabriela who is thirty years old and studying to become an architect, and two dogs, Tita and Benito. I have mostly been communicating with my host family through Tyessa, who is more fluent in Spanish than I. I have been able to speak with them a little through incomplete sentences and gestures however. My family is very understanding with the fact that I do not speak Spanish well and they are able to cater to me so that I understand what they say. 

I have noticed strong collectivism within my host family household. First of all, their daughter is still living with them. This is something that is often discouraged or even frowned upon in the United States. I also noticed that they make sure that the needs of everyone else are met before their own. For example our host mom will make dinner for us, and then for the rest of the family before making it for herself. They are not concerned with themselves as an individual, but rather the entire family as a whole. As mentioned before, the fact that our host family's daughter still lives with them is something that is different from the U.S. The actual layout of the house is also different as they have a "sitting room" for social purposes, and then a room where they will relax and watch TV. In the United States this is generally all one room. Meal time is also very different than in the United States. Breakfast is generally the same, however dinner is prepared in the morning and then served later at night than what is normal in the United States. I also notice that our family in particular tends to stay up later, and sleep in later. This is something that is very different from what I experience in the United States as most people work jobs that require them to be up early in the morning, therefore they are not up as late at night. 

Today I woke up and had breakfast with my host family and socialized for a bit. Because they generally attend events during the week, Sunday is a day that they stay in and rest. Because of this I planned to go to lunch and an activity with other members of our trip. What we did for the majority of the day was walk through the park and then visit the Jardin Botanico de Quito. What was so amazing about walking through the park was getting to see the culture of the people of Quito. The park was filled with people who were walking around, playing soccer, volleyball, and basketball, and even a bike course. There were also many food vendors set up, bouncy houses, slides, and jugglers or magicians all through the park. It was amazing to see so many people outside and partaking in such a wide range of activities. It was really an insiders view on the social lives of the people of Quito. The Botanical Garden was also really amazing to walk through and just see the plants of Ecuador. There was a wide range of plants from tropical, cactus, native to this specific area, carnivorous, and even fields of roses. There was also an entire exhibit on small trees that resembled a bonsai tree. Some specimens had ribbons on them so their must have been some sort of competition that occured within the exhibit sometime. It was nice to get a taste of something other than the city while still being in the city.