In Good Company

The bus ride wasn’t long enough for anyone to el valle de Los Chillos—all 14 wide eyed gringos with our flores waiting for our first home stay family. Without any time to say good bye I saw Chirma my host mom for the first time and Luis Daniele my 20 year old host brother. Losing all sense of direction as my host mom zoomed past cars in our Honda, I somehow ended up being welcomed home by a large fat lab. I think there are four houses—one for each son and their families and abuelo. I haven’t met anyone beyond my own cottage home, besides the abuelito (more on him later). My host sister Michelle is 18 and will be starting her first year at university in two weeks. Her joys echoes throughout the house in her laughter, singing, and voice. I’ve never met someone who brings forth so much happiness.  I have one more host brother, George who is 24 and likes to play Nintendo and rap music and is studying tourism. Sometimes I forget the normalcy of family—how it ebbs and flows with dependency and independence.

My house is a gallery— paintings replace wall paper in the house of the Morales family. The best part is I get to have café con leche with the men who create and envision these paintings. My host father George, his father, and all of his brothers are painters; yet, their paintings drip beyond talent and into the essence of their existence. This is simply who they are. My house is a museum. Trinkets are replaced by artifacts from the indigenous community. Displayed with a pride that says this is who I am, this is my history.  My room is a library and I get to spend my evenings with old friends like Neruda y Marquez.  My room smells like books, it’s like living in a small wonderful library.  I feel like Belle in Beauty and the Beast surrounded with art and literature—only with a rooster and no Beast.

To say I miss you, whoever you are reading this, might be a white lie because I am where I need to be—stumbling over Spanish, eating seven times a day, avoiding eye contact with men, and resting for a little while.