By Haley Martin, Sanaya Baldauf, Fletcher Burbee, Mallory Saylor and Spencer Christiensen
Haley & Sanaya
We were fortunate enough to be placed with a family who speaks decent English and loves to talk. We have bonded quickly with the mother and son duo, and quickly learned that though the son is our age (21), he is a very accomplished man. He’s an advisor to the president of congress (for the province), and has provided us with special experiences like having a sushi dinner with the Vice President of congress and her husband. We like to spend our free time with the family because they are so fun.
On our free day, we drove an hour away to a more rural part of Ecuador. Our host family owns a farm deep in the hills, where we got to ride horses, explore the land, and meet more of the family (and dogs). After a few hours of laughing and enjoying ourselves on the farm, we drove to the small nearby town and ate at a traditional Ecuadorian restaurant. We ate traditional dishes of corn, potatoes, beans, and beef. We headed home and played with their month old golden retriever puppy.
Later that night, the son took us to the beautiful Cumbaya park, which is surrounded by restaurants. We had ice cream and went for a walk, then headed home. We are so thankful for our host family and we are excited to create more memories, especially now that Alana has moved into the third bedroom and is living with us!
Fletcher’s Homestay
Japhet and I were placed with a lovely couple named Rafael and Maria Lucila. Rafael is an Agricultural Engineer that owns a cacao farm on the coast and is now working on growing imported edamame beans in Ecuador. Maria Lucila sold her farm in Santo Domingo, and is now a therapist. Japhet and I have had an absolute blast so far but our highlight is our first day off with them.
Our first free day together (2 days after moving in) we went to a national park about two hours from the house. The park is Cayambe Coca and it’s a beautiful hike in the Andean mountain range. Although the increase in elevation made the hike difficult for Japhet and I, it was a really memorable start to our time with the family.
The hike was three hours in total, but the park also had natural hot springs, so afterwards we went down to have a good, relaxing soak. While sitting in the springs and looking at the mountains surrounding us, we spotted an Andean Condor (one of the largest and renown flying birds in Ecuador) flying around the mountain tops, a perfect way to end the day.
Spencer’s Homestay
I have gotten the opportunity to stay with Maria Almeida’s family, along with Kip and Emmett, who are staying with Maria’s mother in the same neighborhood. The Almeidas are a home of lawyers: Maria and her husband are lawyers, and their son is studying law at USFQ (the same university where we have been having classes). Their daughter, on the other hand is studying business, and is about the same age as me.
Altogether, they are a very amiable bunch, and are very accommodating. They make breakfast and dinners for me, and spend much time sitting at the table with me even when they have already eaten themselves. They even insist on washing all of my dishes, though I still try to wash them myself when they aren’t present.
On our first free day, we headed over to Maria’s mother’s house, where Kip and Emmett were staying, to have a family lunch. Abuela Consuelo made everything, from the soup, to the main dish, to the dessert. Afterwards, Maria had to run some errands, so I stayed at Consuelo’s house and we all played Rummikub together.
It was the perfect Sunday afternoon, and I felt very content and relaxed. By the time we had finished, it was dark and time for dinner, so Consuelo let Maria know that I would be staying there for the evening, and we had a nice dinner together, attempting to speak Spanish with Consuelo.
Mallory’s Homestay
The day started like every other with coffee and a croissant covered in strawberry jam. The breakfast table conversation was about what my homestay mom had done that weekend with her family and what I wanted to do that day. They offered to drive me around Cumbaya (a suburb of Quito) and show me the best restaurants, ice cream parlors, and work spaces.
After the quick drive I was dropped off at one of my favorite cafés, Juan Valdez, to work on homework. However, I hurried home 2 hours later so that I could have some homemade spaghetti with the family! The rest of the day was spent talking with my parents about their jobs and their favorite activities to do on their day off and watching the Ecuadorian soccer team play against Venezuela.