Mi CaSa

My house from the outside the gate. I think I showed one
inside the gate on an earlier blog. There is an open carport
area inside the gate before the entrance into the house.

Nothing too exciting ever happens during the week to write about so I thought I would share a little bit more about my family and where I live. Let me begin by saying that Aimee (the UW-Whitewater girl I live with) and I definitely lucked out with the family we were placed with. They have treated us wonderfully and we have had a great experience.

The crazy steps I have to walk up at least
twice every day. What a work out! I thought
it would get easier the longer I was here but
it's not happening!

My host dad’s name is Teodoro and he is an engineer. He is one of the nicest guys ever. He knows a little bit of English and is very good at finding other ways to explain things when we don’t understand something. His job keeps him very busy so he is gone all day but I love chatting with him after meals or whenever he is around.

My host mom’s name is Nancy and she is a stay-at-home mom. She is so sweet! She loves having more “bebes” to take care of. We are definitely treated like one of her own. I can tell that she loves spending time and talking with us. She does not know very much English but she tries. She is also very good about using gestures and pointing to help us understand what she says. Not only does she feed us good meals but she also does our laundry 2 or 3 times every week so we never run short on clothes. The other girls only get the laundry done once a week at most so it is very nice of her to do ours so often.

I have a younger brother, Carlos, who is 19 and goes to Cuenca University to study medicine. He is not home very often and is studying and such when he is home so we don’t do a whole lot with him. His English is better than anyone else’s but we really don’t talk to him much anyways. He has always been very nice to us, though.

I have mentioned my host sister, Cristina, in a past blog but she does to school in Quito so we only met her when she was home for Fiestas de Cuenca. She is 18-years-old and was very sweet when she was home. Her English is very good so we were able to talk to her about lots while she was home.

Lastly, I have a younger sister, Maria Rosa, who is 9. She definitely acts like a younger sister too! She loves to be around Aimee and me and takes any chance she can to hang out with us. We all play Uno and just goof around like sisters. She even let us is on the secret of Carlos having a girlfriend but she had to shut our bedroom door and whisper so he wouldn’t hear her! Haha She is so cute.

Mine and Aimee's bedroom!

We also have two pets: a dog Pancho and a cat Matilde. Pancho is always outside and the cat is outside while we're here because Aimee is allergic to cats. Pancho definitely isn't an inside cuddly dog because he gets dirty from being outside but he's cute. He is a little chicken though so it's funny. He is finally warming us to us and letting us pet him now; before he would always run and hide under the cars when we got home. He even growled at us when we tried to go in the house one of the first nights we were here! We're finally a part of the family to him, though!

Matilde

Pancho!

The family area upstairs

Again...

Our house is very nice, too. There are three good-sized levels within it. Aimee and I share a room but we have our own bathroom connected to our room, which is super nice. That way we don’t have to worry about leaving our stuff in the shower and around the sink. The only downfall to our house is its location. We are the furthest away from the bus stop and everywhere we go so we have to leave a little earlier than everyone else. We are also located right on the top of a hill so we have a huge flight of stairs that we have to walk up at least twice every day. It definitely hurts by the time we get to the top! At least we will hopefully be in shape when we get home! J

Looking down down at the basement through all three floors
 of our house from the top floor.

The family area on the main floor.

The kitchen

 A little of the basement, including the bar. Our host parents
told us it is the party room! haha

I have been truly blessed with the family that I am living with and I am very thankful for that. Having such a loving, giving family has made this trip much easier and much more enjoyable. I couldn’t have asked for more and will definitely be sad to leave them.