Mi Familia

My family here seems to be very well off, but they work hard to make it so. My mom, Belhika, runs a laundry business out of the kitchen. We have 2 washers and 2 dryers right next to the sink and stove. She has been so successful recently that she has another woman come help her with the chores (washing clothes, cooking for the family, cleaning the house, etc.) She married the father, Pedro, when she was 15 and had her first kid at 16. Pedro is a plumber, meaning he constructs buildings and installs the water pipes. Right now, he is building a new room next to the house for the laundry machines. See the picture that I sent out in my email.

The oldest son, Jason, is in his early 20´s. On sunny days and during the tourist season, he sells clams, oysters, and other seafood on the beach. He finds them by snorkeling at 6 in the morning and grabbing them from the sea, which is somewhat dangerous when the waves are big. At night, Jason takes an hour bus ride to go to la universidad. He is married, and his wife Clara lives with us and helps around the house. I don´t think she is 20 yet, and she is 4 months pregnant. The yongest son is around 15. Mi madre has a daughter too, but she lives in Guayaquil, 3.5 hours away by bus. She cried when she told me that her only daughter left her to marry someone in Guayaquil. My American brother is 30, just finished his first year of med school, and is staying a week longer than me. We have already become really good friends. There are constantly cousins, neices and nephews, and random family members in and out of the house to watch TV or drink soda, but I honestly cannot keep track of them all.

The sun came out for the first time a couple of days ago (usually it is cloudy in the winter), and I hope that never happens again! The beach was packed. The waves were crowded. I could feel the sun burning my skin and sucking out my energy every minute. One of my friends that was in the sun all day with a rashguard and suntain lotion was as red as a lobster by the next day. Ironically, the sun makes me want to stay inside and in the shade!

I now own my own surf board, and I am still surfing every day. I got caught in my first rip tide a couple of days ago and got dragged out to sea. It took me about ten minutes to paddle back. Hopefully with more experience, I will learn to avoid them!

I finished my first week of classes, and someone hosted a party for the students and teachers. I have been working one-on-one with two different teachers every day. One teaches me grammar for two hours in the morning, and the other teaches application for two hours in the afternoon. I didn´t learn until the party on Friday night that neither of them speak English, and I was shocked! It was fun, and very difficult, to speak Spanish in a party setting with loud music and people dancing all around.

I am going to start volunteering at the local school tomorrow teaching English, so look for details in the next post.