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Published: July 21st 2010
You hear that staying with a family is the best way to learn a foreign language. But its so much more than that. It is an honor for a family to bring you (a stranger) into their home, let you listen to their conversations (with questionable compreshension), and allow you to sit at the dinner table three times a day with a goofy grin eating their carefully prepared food.
As I write this, I can hear giggles from the other room. Even though I barely understand the language, its easy to tell that a house is filled with love....
My Ecuadrorian mama is one of 11 siblings and I am staying in her childhood home. Her father built this crazy-big 11 bedroom house over 40 years ago. The backyard contains such wonders as avocado, fig and cherimoya trees. Giant squash are growing and I believe that the mysterious tomate de arbol also springs forth from somewhere. And chickens. Back in the day, there was a space for cuy (tasty guinea pig) to breed, but no mas.
Mi mama lives here with her younger brother. His wife and their three children live in an apartment down the road, but
are with us for meals, playtime, naptime and just about any time between. It took me a while to figure out this arrangement. Today I learned that they are building a second kitchen on the third floor and then there will be "enough space" for the kids to stay in this grand house todo el tiempo.
I am lucky to have a mama that can whip up a three course almuerzo like nobodys buisness. Lunch is the big meal here and it begins with a soup. Then comes the main plate which always always contains rice. (Rice does not preclude the addition of potatoes and/or noodles.) The pesky pescadarian americana gets veggies and fish while the omnivores typically have meat of unknown origin. I spend a lot of time contemplating the food, so I'll save that for another day...
I am thankful to have a pretty intimate glimpse into life as an Ecuadorian family. I can't help but mull over what childhood is like here. The kids (7 and 3 years old) break all language barriers and can't get enough piggy back rides and tickling wars with the broken-spanish chica. Tonight was a classic: while working on spanish
homework with the kids, deeply lost in the conjugation of irregular verbs, I noticed that it was strangely quiet. I turned around and the littlest one was joyously painting a picture on the wall with his aunt's lipstick. He then frantically tried to erase it with his dad's baseball hat. Now, this was a scenario that my tenuous hold on spanish was not equipped to handle. I managed to tell his mom that una cosa mala paso´ en la cocina. He starts crying after a very mild over-the-pants spanking from his mom. His aunt then immediately covers him with hugs and kisses and asks me to give him a piece of gum. Then all is well in the casa and laughter returns shortly thereafter.
Although there are many details and subtleties that I know I don't/can't comprehend, I am reminded that family is universal. No matter the country, no matter the paycheck, no matter the language: Parents want their children to eat all their dinner. Kids can make their parents laugh like nothing else. And its never okay to write on the wall with lipstick.
I've seen some great places and I will share my weekend travels shortly.
Love to you all!
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Beth Jacob-Files
non-member comment
makeup art
The lipstick story reminded me of when I was 5 and spilt eye shadow on a beach condo's carpet in Charleston and then hid it from Yaya, but of course she discovered it soon thereafter and I was busted. After a few minutes of me feeling extreme guilt for trying to hide the eyeshadow stain, Yaya quickly returned to her bubbly hugging self again. Glad you are feeling some family familiarity down there. I am sure they love having you around!