Sangolquí

I'm currently in an internet cafe in my new home, el pueblo de Sangolquí en la Valle de Los Chillos. From what I understand (which is never completey reliable), my host sister was trying to do something to the internet in our house and broke it right before I came, and I think they're in the process of fixing it, but as usual, I have no idea.

I'm staying here for the month of September living with an incredibly nice, enormous host family. I have two parents, a sister, two brothers (although they come and go, and I'm not sure whether they actually live with us), and a few thousand aunts, uncles, and cousins (and a kitten, a bird, two dogs, and a ten day old puppy). I'm constantly meeting new family members, and I honestly have no idea what most of their names are and how everyone is related. They're all super friendly and gregarious and try to include me in everything even if I don't always understand.

The lifestyle of my family was actually quite shocking. My host parents own a panadería (small bakery/store) and seem quite wealthy. Their house is nicer than mine at home, they have new cars, wear expensive clothes they buy at the enormous mall (which they think is small), and would be considered upper middle class if not higher in the US. It's rather difficult for me at times when they ask me how expensive houses, cars, tuition, etc. are at home and what things are like when they live in pretty amazing conditions themselves. Many of the other families live in gated communities, have wireless internet and tons of electronics and are exactly like the American middle class.

It's very strange for me to live with such a large family (especially in comparison to mi familia chiquitita at home). In Ecuador, one generally lives with their family practically until marriage. One of the cousins, who is 24, announced yesterday at breakfast that she is suddenly moving out of our house and to Quito (to pursue music, I think...), which has thrown the family into chaos. My host mom is extremely upset, and today at lunch, my host parents, aunt and uncle were all nearly in tears over her departure and then the other children and relatives of each who have moved out. I know my mom misses me, but in the US we're all about setting children free and teaching them to be independent... This level of total interdependence is hard to adjust to. My host family wants nothing more than for me to find an Ecuadorian boyfriend and settle down here with them.

My Spanish is already improving immensely. Immersion really is the way to go, it seems. From time to time I even find myself thinking in Spanish already. On Saturday my host sister (and like 8 cousins) took me to a midieval castle themed karaoke bar, which was one of the more overwhelming experiences I've had thus far. By 1am, I just sat there thinking to myself "estoy muriendo de sueño" and then was constantly impressed by the fact that I was thinking in Spanish even with such exhaustion. It's still difficult to include myself in conversations at meals or to understand what people say to me when giving directions and whatnot, but it's getting easier by the day.

Today was also the first day of classes. I somehow managed to make it into the highest level, I think, which has done wonders for my speaking self-esteem. I don't think any of my Spanish classes have ever been comforting or complementory towards my Spanish, and I'm always very shy about speaking in class in Spanish, so this has been a huge help. We're in classes of six students with one professor for language & communication and another for the culture & history class, amounting to 5 hours of intensive Spanish each day all month. I think it's really going to do wonders for my Spanish.

I've probably been online for an hour now and should probably head home before my host mom worries too much. They already think I'm a little pathetic after I somehow got lost on my way home from school today (I took the right bus, got off at the right place, and took what I thought was our street because it had the same name, got rather lost and was taken home by a friendly taxi driver who didn't even charge me because I was so pitiful looking). We may have internet in the house soon, but for now I'm limited to the cafes and will only be writing occasionally. My life shouldn't be too interesting here anyway... Just class and family each and every day.