Bienvenidos al Ecuador otra vez!

Back! And so fricken happy about it!

I changed host families for several reasons:

1. I wanted to have a new familial experience en el Ecuador.
2. La familia Bassante was never home and was not really anything like a family.
3. La empleada en la casa Bassante stole my twizzlers and oreos. Bitch.

So now I am living in la Urbanizacion: Lomas de Monteserrin, the same neighborhood in which our dear president Rafael Correa lives in. Really beautiful neighborhood with a park right on the corner of our house. The only downfall: a hill that easily takes German Aleman (the last street I lived on) for all it's worth. For my friends who know what I'm talking about (hem hem, Melisa and Katie), it's just as bad if not worse than the first leg of way up to Guayasamin's Capilla del Hombre. Como se llama la calle? Ah, no recuerdo.

My family is awesome! My host dad Germán is the director of the Ministry of Living. He collects Ecuadorian art and is really funny and incredibly intelligent. In fact, he reminds me of Rich Smith. Just very nice, caring guy. My host mom Rocío is the nicest, soft spoken lady I have ever met. She is also a director at some sort of Ministry. Crazy. Also, I guess they met when they were six years old and are second cousins and have been pretty much in love forever. Very much so acceptable arrangement en el Ecuador. ¿En los Estados Unidos? Not so much. I have three host siblings, but I only live with one. María Gracia is 20 and is also a student at la USFQ. She's a pre-med student, so she's always busy and right now she's doing her practicum at night at the largest public hospital in Quito helping deliver babies.   Apparently, very hard to internship there. 

I have a puppy named Bruno (¡un loco y malcriado!) as well as a matted-ass ridiculous white ugly cat named Caralota!  So glad to be in the presence of animals once again.

So my host family owns this beautiful house in Monteserrín and next door is an apartment building.  They own three of these three-bedroom apartments which they have for their three kids and their families.  On the top floor live the oldest daughter Alejandra and her husband Gabriel. The middle floor is being occupied by their son Sebastian and his wife, Moca, and their two kids Camilo y Emilio.  Emilio y yo somos tocayos.  Tocayos means that we have the same name but for different genders.  Cool new word.  The bottom-most floor they are renovating for their daughter Maria Gracia.  So cool that they are neighbors with their kids.  The kids come over pretty often to visit and they get together every Sunday at the least.

My host parents also own land in a bustling and beautiful barrio called Rancho de San Francisco.  There is a club that they go to here as well by the same name that has pools and tennis courts and horseback riding.  They go every weekend and I can accompany them should I so wish.

Needless to say, it is a completely different experience living with la familia Luzuriaga in comparison with la familia Bassante.

So glad to be back in Ecuador.