Day #4!

1. Who are the members of your host family (names, ages, professions), and how have you been able to communicate with them? 

Our host mother is Adriana Arango who works at home here as a house wife. She has prepared all of our meals, cleans up our room (even though it is already clean. She really enjoys remaking our beds) and she helps her son with his homework. The fathers name is Carlos Polit and he works as an accountant. I do not know the ages of the two parents, as it has not been appropriate to ask at since we've arrived but I would estimate early 40's maybe late 30's. Since it has only been the weekend when we have been here we have not spent that much time with their son whose name is Juan José and is 12 years old. He has spent his time playing video games this weekend and enjoys BMX, which I was surprised to find here in Ecuador.  

Communication has been the most difficult experience I have had with the host family so far because I speak little Spanish and they speak no English. The language barrier is something that occasionally has prevented me from articulating my message; however, for the most part I am able to say how I feel or what I need in a round about way. I also point a lot, gesture, and smile. At the dinner table many people are there, and for the most part I take a listening role and nod and smile along. 

2) What examples of collectivism (vs. individualism) have you noticed so far, and what other similarities/differences between Ecuador and the U.S. have been apparent within your host family context?  

A huge similarity I have found everywhere I travel is that people do and talk about the same things daily. While different cultures eat different food, and prepare food differently they still talk about food and share that time together cooking the food. People go to work and talk about their families in the same way we do back home. A difference I wrote about a bit yesterday is that the mom does not eat any meals with us. She is simply an observer and serves us all. This is very different than at my house. Another difference in terms of food is how the mom brings out our individual plates all filled up. As opposed to back home we serve ourselves, or others, family style. I was very surprised by this! What is collectivist is that we do all sit around the table and eat dinner together. What you could say is individualists is that once dinner is finished and our conversation runs out, we all go back to our rooms and do our own thing. 

I was surprised to not see more collectivist traits in Ecuadorian culture so far. However, I guess it is very difficult to be collectivist while working or walking on the street. Yesterday at Claudia's we saw her whole family cooking in the kitchen, and one of the songs the band played was about remembering their elders. Ion this sense, Ecuador is collectivist. I have noticed that only our host mom cooks the meals, and is the only one who cleans. I have seen many people take taxi's together, who may not be all going to the same destination, which is collectivist being a sharing community. 

Our host family surprised me quite a bit when they simply expected Carolina and I to find our way back home, when we have only driven twice and never walked! This was something that I interpreted as being individualistic because the family is just sitting at home when we arrive. They were not concerned that we may need assistance or because it was so late a ride back to the house. I had assumed that in a collectivist society, which we learned was Ecuador, that the family hosting two foreigners on their second day, would not have assumed we needed more guidance. I understand we did not communicate about this, and we should have, but I was still surprised by their actions. 

3) What did you do today, and what did you notice about Ecuadorian culture?

In the morning the whole family gathered around the table and we enjoyed a Columbia corn pancake breakfast with an apple and pineapple juice. I have been shocked how small the breakfasts are here, and is something I need to be aware of depending on the days activities. Nevertheless, the family sat around for over an hour discussing fun things to do around Ecuador today. 

We decided to go to the Iglesias de la Basilica de Voto which is a church we saw on our main tour, but we wanted to go back and see the church up close! It was so beautiful roaming the church grounds and learning about the history of the building. I was slightly surprised to find out you have to pay to go in the building and to go up into the tower, which are seperate costs. We were able to get a beautiful view of the city throughout the grounds of the church! The sun was shining and the crowd was pretty small so I was happy about this. 

After the church we decided to walk around the historic downtown in search of finding a place to eat. We were able to find this very small hole in the wall restaurant. I ordered tomalies, which ended up only being $1.25. The restaurant was staffed by the son, the father cooked and during the middle of our meal the son's daughter was dropped off. Instead of stopping business or taking a break, the son s trapped his daughter to his chest and continued to serve us. I was incredibly humbled by this because this was not my expectation for a man here in Ecuador and I was very pleased to see this. We got some delicious ice cream after dinner and walked around the city before we returned home. 

Carolina and I decided to take the bus home, which was an experience in itself! We were packed in so tightly I thought I may never be able to make it out when our exit came up. We were able to go to the Mega Maxi and observe the Sunday rush of shoppers. I am having a bad reaction to something here because I am so congested. We went to Mega Maxi in search of cough drops. What I bought was like a vitamin which is not what I wanted so the search is on! I was not aware this house had a dog because on our family info it said there was none and I am guessing I am severely allergic to their dog because I am only congested and sneezy in the house so I am hoping this goes away soon! Today was a great day to walk the busy streets and speak with locals about their lives learning more about the Ecuadorian culture!