Today was a travel day, and we drove for almost 7 hours through more mountainous roads. We did make one stop at the oldest church in Ecuador, which was built in the 1500’s. The drive into Cuenca was absolutely beautiful, and the city is filled with rivers and parks. We drove into the colonial part of the city to where we would meet our host families.
Emily (my roommate for the homestays) and I met our host mom, and her name is Elena. She greeted us with a kiss on the cheek and a very welcoming hug. She is an absolutely charming lady. She drove us to her house, which is about a 20 minute walk from the center where our classes are. Her house is small, but gorgeous. There is a front sitting room, a kitchen, bar, and a sunny courtyard downstairs. The large staircase twists up to an open family room and the bedrooms. My bedroom has a large window that gives me a beautiful view of the neighborhood. Elena’s husband is an economist working in the United States right now, and her son is living in Chile. Her daughter, who is a law student, lives at home with her 3 year old son named Santi. Santi is such an energetic little kid, and he absolutely LOVES Spiderman. We spent about an hour getting settled in, and then we all went to the grocery store, and then to Elena’s sisters house for New Year’s Celebrations.
The house was filled with family members, and there were about 30 that attended. Emily and I quickly became known as the “gringitas.” When we first arrived, we had homemade tamales and coffee. After another few hours, we had these baked cake ball type things covered in honey. The younger men in the family then brought in a large tv, speakers, lights, and soundboard and set up a karaoke machine. The family, who spoke little to no English, decided to pick a song for Emily and I to sing. Of all the English songs in the world, they chose Hotel California. Eventually though, I was singing Spanish songs that I knew, and after a while I was singing Spanish songs that I didn’t even know with my host Grandma. I don’t know how the older men and women in my family had so much energy, as they were dancing and partying nonstop. We had dinner around 9:30, and went back to singing and dancing. At midnight, we went outside to burn the Manigotes (they are like mannequins) and shoot off fireworks. Every single street was filled with small fires and fireworks and cheering.
The traditional Ecuador greeting is to kiss everyone on the cheek when you enter a room and again when you leave a room. I was kissed over 50 times (I lost count after 53) just that night. It is definitely going to be strange when I start kissing my friends out of habit when I go back to the United States. There are more celebrations on New Year’s Day, so I’ll write more about that later. Happy New Year!
