Ending the homestay and receiving a special visitor.

I can't believe my last weekend with my Ecuadorian family is over! How the time flew by. Although this homestay occasionally challenged me to live in a new culture and language all the time, it was definitely for my benefit. During the past month I have learned several valuable things about Ecuadorian culture. My biggest lesson? Family is first. If you have free time, you spend it with family. While I grew up very blessed to have my extended family very close by, the amount of family time I grew up with still doesn't match the amount in my Ecuadorian family! They are always together--even during the work week. And although a great deal of them live abroad, those still in Ecuador live in close proximity. It really is a beautiful thing that I wish I had more of, especially now that I'm moving so far away from everyone I know. While the American value of independence isn't entirely a bad thing, I really believe we could all use a little more dependence in our lives.

Okay, so what did we do this weekend? Saturday started off with a neighborhood festival organized by the police. I hung out with my host abuelo and his friends chatting in Spanish for awhile before the police dogs put on quite a show. They did some pretty cool tricks for us--one dog (Whiskey, the crowd favorite) even walked on two legs! I decided AJ and I need to take a cue from the Ecuadorians and name our daschund Whiskey ;) After the dog show some students performed a traditional dance for us, and then we left so I could work a little bit. I'm losing all next weekend and the weekend after to work on field stuff, so I'm trying to get ahead as much as possible right now. Yes, it's a bit lame, but I guess that means I'm growing up!

As it turns out, I didn't get much done on Saturday and I missed out on the fun plans we had for that night. I came down with a fever that afternoon and was out of commission for the rest of the day, which really stunk. Still, I'm lucky it wasn't more than a headache, achy joints, and a fever. My family took real good care of me, even though I hate it when people see me sick.

On Sunday I took it easy and was feeling a little better, so I went to mass with my abuelos. It's really a great experience to worship in a church that you know is so very old. As an evangelical Christian, I never get to have this chance. There's a ton of history surrounding the Catholic church in Ecuador, and truthfully not all of it is good (at least when the Spaniards invaded). All the same, I have had the pleasure of getting to know the faith of my family, and it is real, genuine, and spurs me on to grow in my own faith.

After church we went on a quick shopping trip, where I picked up some candies to use with the girls for English bingo tomorrow. They'll be so happy! I had lunch in the house and then met the other two social work students and my field instructor, who is here visiting us all the way from Chicago! It was amazing to see her. I'm so looking forward to meeting with her this week to talk about how field is going and to receive my midterm evaluation (dun dun dun). We met at a coffee shop and then went to El Panecillo, which is a giant statue of the Virgin Mary you've seen in my facebook pictures from the Basilica. It's a pretty touristy spot, so we saw several gringos and some Ecuadorians tried to talk to us in English (I answer in Spanish whenever someone does that though!). Overall it was a pretty neat experience, and a great view. After that I showed them my favorite coffee shop, where we enjoyed some delicious coffee and ice cream (my prof treated to everything!). I'm so glad I was feeling well enough to go.

So, that's the weekend in a nutshell. This week I have only three days of field, and then we're going to the Galapagos! So excited for some beautiful beaches and giant turtles.