Family

I´ve been in South America for 4 weeks. Some are naming this day our ¨first month¨I think I´ll say I´ve been here a month on the 24th.

So today we gave our presentations and mine went well. My teacher said some encouraging words which gave me some sunshine in my heart and a little more confidence in myself.

My topic was over bilingual edu. so there wasn´t much discussion, but another girl Anna, gave her presentation on the differences between family in the USA and Ecuador. It was really interesting because Anna is from Brasil, but has been studying in the US for the past 5 years and is now in Ecuador, a country and culture a little more similar to her own.

We discussed what is ¨family¨in each country and how that word means different things. She brought up how in the US sometimes families don´t really even KNOW the other members in their own family, which to me is horribly sad. The USA´s obsession with individualism and ¨personal space¨sometimes gets in the way of bringing families together. I know I´ve definitely been guilty of just wanting ¨kimbo time¨and so instead of hanging out with the family, I´ve gone off by myself. I´m not trying to say that this is always wrong, just that it´s very different for Latin American families.
She also brought up what the definition of ¨family¨actually is in each country. In the US, when someone asks you who your family is, you tell them about your mom, dad, and siblings. On the other hand in Ecuador your ¨familia¨here is the entire family. Everyone aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents= todos!
I´ve experienced this way of life while I´m here. A couple times I´ve come home from school to find my mom´s granddaughter and daughter at our house. Her other daughter and son-in-law live directly above us for crying out loud. And every day for lunch 2 of their granddaughters take their lunch breaks at their house.

So we talked about the pros and cons and I guess I´ve decided that I just want to thank my family for being who they are. I know that sometimes we´re everywhere and I do fall into the US category of liking my own ¨personal space¨, but I feel like Mom and Dad did a really good job of concentrating on closeness as well.
So mom and dad, I love you. family... I love you too!

We also talked about homosexuality in Ecuador, but this topic is too big to jump into right now.

Hasta luego

kimbo