#4: May 7, Basilica & family

  1. 1. The members of my host family are Patricia Quiroz Ocampo (50), Carlos (57), Andre (27yr old son), and Jen (24 year old daughter).Patricia does not work, but sometimes she helps with the school. Carlos does various services, possibly bar tending. Andre works for the bank, and Jen works with the university and is working on her masters degree. 
We have been able to communicate with them through speaking Spanish and sometimes English if necessary. 

  1. Some examples of collectivism that I have seen with my family would be the fact that they all try to get together for meals. Usually breakfast and dinner is when the family will make an effort to enjoy the meal together, while exchanging conversation. A friend of the family usually joins us for breakfast and dinner as well. It is apparent that the Ecuadorian culture values family and big gatherings for meals. On the other hand, throughout the day it seems like each person in the family has their own agenda and things they do separately. Some differences that I have noticed would be the number of courses for meals. Usually there is an appetizer, like soup or salad, then an entree with a side dish. Coffee and tea are always provided in addition to another beverage like water or juice. They are very adamant about us finishing our soup etc. first, before we begin eating the main dish. This is different than what I am accustomed to in the US. 
  2. Today we went to the basilica, and climbed to the very top of the towers! The view was magnificent and gorgeous. The building itself was incredible and I was astounded by the architecture along with the beautiful stain glass windows. We roamed the streets and got lunch as well. We saw many stray dogs, and one even followed us for over an hour. I noticed that the food choices of Ecuadorian culture vary, and salad usually means fruit. We had chicken tamales that were wrapped in a corn tusk, and there were chicken and veggies inside of a breaded sort of outer layer. It was delicious. We took a bus to and from this area, and on the ride home the bus was packed FULL! It was crazy how over crowded it was, and it put into perspective the importance and reliance of public transportation by many of the local inhabitants. I also noticed how many vendors are on the streets and in popular places like near the basilica. It seems that locals take advantage of tourists and highly populated areas to make money by selling numerous kinds of foods or goods. 

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