Living with an Ecuadorian family

Soon after arriving in Quito I decided it was the kind of city I wanted to spend a little bit of time in. So, I signed up for some Spanish courses and went to live with a host family. I have to admit it was a little strange living with a family of strangers. Luckily the family was very nice and treated me like a son. They have a nice house in the historic center of Quito with beautiful views over the inspiring Spanish colonial architecture. There were a total of four other people living in the house, the mother Beatriz, the father Leonardo, the son Lucas, and another student Jugette (although Jugette was not your typical student, she was a French Canadian from Quebec and over 50). It was a nice environment with plenty of laughs, stories and discussions over cultural differences. My Spanish certainly improved quickly as I was forced to use it exclusively.

My timing in Quito worked out quite well as my final week was that of Semana Santa, the week of Easter. It is a week of holidays, events, and a lot of food. The most famous dish is called Fanesca. It is a combination of 12 grains, fish, and spices in a gigantic and incredibly filling soup. The Ecuadorians only make this dish once a year and it is a big event. The entire extended family gathers to see how much of this stuff they can put down before passing out.

The most interesting part of the week though, at least for me, was the procession of Jesus de Gran Poder. It is a parade with thousands of penitents making up for their sins over the past year. They all wear strange purple robes, imagine the Klu Klux Klan, but in purple. Many of them walk barefoot on the scorching road, others carry rediulously large crucifixes along the route, while others still whip themselves with a poisonous herb that causes intense itching and welts. One guy even had a cactus strapped to his back in the shape of a cross, and another tightly wrapped himself in barbed wire. Like I said, quite interesting and definitely not something you see every day.

Overall it was a good two weeks with plenty of Spanish and plenty of Ecuadorian culture.