…Carnival continued:

So, I got my fair-share of the Carnival celebrations. And I also got my share of my Ecuadorian family! If there’s one thing I learned this weekend, it’s that all families are the same. I had this epiphany while observing the aunt who swept the baby out of the arms of its mother the moment they arrived, cooing and ooing over her precious, chubby cheeks; and while watching the boys of all ages, being mindlessly entertained by playstation games for hours on end; and in helping to quiet the dogs that are always growling at something, and while listening quietly to the bickering of in-laws about money matters and the chatter of middle-aged women about their lack of form and their newest, favorite beauty product; and in noticing the matriarch of the family meticulously direct the goings on of her kitchen. And beneath the surface-y roles and habits of each family member, I also found that special bond that ties all families together. Families really do have their own kind of love--love that is unconditional and everlasting. Kind of like God’s love, huh? I think the Latin-American culture really understands this truth, seen in their emphasis of family in their lives.

In observing for days on end, all the goings-on of this new family I now have ties to, I felt comforted by how easily it compared to my family or any family rather. I have to admit though; it did get long and lonely at times—times for which I was especially thankful to have a Taylor friend nearby. And in talking to the rest of the Taylor group today, it seems we all experienced similar feelings during this long weekend. Like I mentioned before, it is so incredibly exhausting to force myself to understand and communicate with people in a language (despite my prior education) is very unfamiliar to me. I think there is added pressure in knowing we are expected to eventually master it. And it does not help that my host mom tells me just about every day, “You have a lot to learn, you need to study MUCHISIMO.”

I will quote my 2-year-old self, “DON’T TELL ME!!!!!” J

In other news:

The food is great. Among my favorites from this weekend were “Bananas wrapped in love” aka Bananas dipped in pancake batter and fried, “Chocle con Queso” aka corn on the cob with cheese (the corn was grilled, rolled in a creamy cheese sauce and then shredded cheese), and “yuca con queso” –yucca roots with cheese.

Another cool thing about this weekend, was seeing my family (notably my brother Sebas, and sister Carolina) start to come out of their shells a bit. I think it helped that they had their cousins and the rest of their family around so that they were sort of “in their element” and could act themselves. Carolina is EXTREMELY shy, around me anyways. She has been talking a lot more though, not necessarily to me, but around me, which is still good. She is a very bright, young girl but loves to be silly. She has the most contagious laugh, and I love to listen to her Spanish especially in silly voices. Sebas also loves to be funny. He absolutely loves the beach boys and the song, “Pretty Woman.” It is hilarious to hear him sing them. The more I get to know them, the more they remind me of me and my sister. J Another note for Sarah Bohl: The other day we played that game we used to play at home, where one person would stand at the window and throw down something attached to some sort of elastic cord (or phone cord, Haha) and the others would catch it and attach something else…you know what I’m talking about. But they kids were playing it! Their main goal was to tease the dogs, but we did that too! I couldn’t believe it. And I’ve also been shown just ONE of the movies they made together. Yep, just like us. I love it!

Also, it is sooooo nice to finally have a class to attend. (I will probably question why I said this in days to come.) But it was frustrating knowing that I was supposed to be learning Spanish and not having any organized form of teaching from which to guide myself. After one day of class, I can say it’s sort of cool to be in a class of only six (4 once we split into our different levels) and have the class structured around our needs. But of course it’s also pretty daunting with the professor RIGHT THERE and also continually learning how much I really don’t know.

As for prayer requests, which many have asked about (thank you, from the bottom of my heart for your prayers):

I think for myself as well as the rest of the group, pray that our uneasy feelings about communication and feelings of loneliness because of the lack of communication would be lifted. And also continue to pray for my host family in dealing with Carolina’s small tumor.

New Spanish phrase for the day:

Que te vaya bien. (That it may go well you)

Que te vaya bien.

Lindsay