¡Mi Familia!

When I pictured meeting my host mother for the first time, I pictured the girls on my abroad lined up with our luggage surrounding us looking anxious until a smiling woman came up to us and said our names in a questioning tone… Needless to say it did not go like this. We walked into the lobby of our hotel to find seven moms eagerly awaiting all of us with hugs. My mother greeted me with the traditional Ecuadorian kiss on the right (always the right) cheek, which I am learning to stop involuntarily cringing away from, and then promptly corrected my grammar. I am not being sarcastic when I say that it was perfect. It was then a flurry of Spanish and telling us who is neighbors with who and who is cousins with who etc. It was awesome and slightly terrifying. I couldn’t stop grinning.

My mom and dad took me to my aunt’s house first where something was happening. I say something because I couldn’t quite follow the conversation. Meeting extended family was intimidating. I promptly forgot each one of their names and relations. Speaking of getting used to the cheek kissing, one of my uncles (or cousins?) went to kiss my right cheek and I, the one who hates contact, backed my face away slightly rather than turning towards him, so that my left cheek was still facing him. I froze there and he paused for a second before deciding to just kiss my left cheek. It was more awkward than I would have expected. Cheek side does make a difference, don’t try to stop it!

 I *almost* have my direct family figured out now. It includes a mom and dad, older brother and an ambiguously aged sister. I’ll keep you updated on that one. There is also a baby. I’m not sure where he fits in to it all.

Quick break: Things I wish my Spanish teachers had told me: “You are not good Spanish, practice more.” Here’s the thing, I have never gotten below an A- in any of the seven Spanish classes I have taken. Even if I’m being real here and mention that the first four classes don’t count because I lost it all in my two year hiatus, it is still absolutely absurd that I could get A’s in the more recent ones and then meet my host family, turn bright red, and speak in something that would embarrass the term “broken Spanish.” I’m pretty sure the five-month-old baby speaks more fluently than me and all I’ve heard him do is cry and burp.

I understand much of what they say, but if there’s a word I don’t know or if comes out fast, both the family and I have learned that I have an expressively go-to panicked face for my lack of understanding. My family is great though. They are patient with my lack of vocabulary and failure to create coherent sentences. They are also very friendly and easy-going.

The happiest surprise for me was that the family has two dogs! (Dobby, they pale in comparison to you, don’t worry). It is wonderful to have happy pets bounding around. It feels quite home-y. ¡Me gusta mi familia mucho!

Now off to bed. We have a busy week ahead of us.