Of all the places we had planned to visit, I think Mom and Dad were most excited to visit Machala; to see the life I have been living for the past seven months.
I can’t remember if I’ve described Machala in past entries or not. I don’t give Machala much credit for anything and often times I’m fairly harsh with my criticisms towards the city. It’s HOT, humid, rather unattractive, and notorious for being a “tough” (aka dangerous) town. It’s a coastal town with a laid-back coastal feel. It's not a Santa Cruzy coastal feel but more of a dusty, arid, lazy and lethargic coastal feel. People on the coast tend to be heavier than those in the Sierras which I have determined to be caused by the sheer lack of motivation and physical ability to do anything in the heat of the day. The favorite pastime is lounging on your front stoop with your shirt rolled up exposing your coastal gut while watching your children splash about in the kiddy pool. That’s it; that’s all you can do in the worst heat of the day. If you’re not trying your hardest not to move a muscle so as to prevent more sweat, then you’re passing time in the newly built air-conditioned mall.
So, with that description in mind, Mom and Dad were stoked to soak up some Ecuadorian coastal heat, haha, right. Heat aside; Machala has the redeeming quality of its incredibly generous and genuinely nice people.
The host fam and birthdays
Mom and Dad stayed in my host family’s house with me during their visit. My host family always insists on guests staying in our house. And not only do they share their space, but my host mom, Lourdes, gets up early and prepares breakfast in the morning for my guests, my host dad, Alfonso, drives us around for a tour of the city, and my host sister, Marietta, is an awesome translator and really saves me the time of translating Spanish to English. My host family is so caring towards me and shows it by caring as well for my guests. Mom and Dad were no exception. It was obvious the host family wanted to leave a lasting impression on my real parents. They took us out to dinner at the mall’s food court on our first night here (it’s a big privilege in their eyes to dine at the air-conditioned food court). Then, the next morning which was also my birthday, Lourdes prepared a large breakfast for us and shrimp ceviche for lunch. I had no clue what they had in mind for my birthday night. I wasn’t expecting much but I knew they had something up their sleeves. They called over a bunch of their church friends and Alfonso cooked up a delicious typical Ecuadorian dinner for everyone.
Now, I’m leaving one important detail out about the festivities of my birthday…my family is Evangelist. In Ecuador, most people are either Catholic or Christians who have converted from Catholicism to Evangelism. Being that they have converted, they are VERY religious in all aspects of their daily lifestyle. My host family, now that they are retired, spends every moment of their spare time at church or church related events. We pray before every meal…even in the food court. And when it comes to birthday parties, the only acceptable party is a “Christian” party. This means, no alcohol, only Christian music, and absolutely no dancing. Dancing, in all other aspects of the Ecuadorian culture is crucial to any festive gathering. The Evangelists don´t like to partake in dancing because the music that usually accompanies the dancing is not of religious background.
Mom and Dad stayed in my host family’s house with me during their visit. My host family always insists on guests staying in our house. And not only do they share their space, but my host mom, Lourdes, gets up early and prepares breakfast in the morning for my guests, my host dad, Alfonso, drives us around for a tour of the city, and my host sister, Marietta, is an awesome translator and really saves me the time of translating Spanish to English. My host family is so caring towards me and shows it by caring as well for my guests. Mom and Dad were no exception. It was obvious the host family wanted to leave a lasting impression on my real parents. They took us out to dinner at the mall’s food court on our first night here (it’s a big privilege in their eyes to dine at the air-conditioned food court). Then, the next morning which was also my birthday, Lourdes prepared a large breakfast for us and shrimp ceviche for lunch. I had no clue what they had in mind for my birthday night. I wasn’t expecting much but I knew they had something up their sleeves. They called over a bunch of their church friends and Alfonso cooked up a delicious typical Ecuadorian dinner for everyone.
Now, I’m leaving one important detail out about the festivities of my birthday…my family is Evangelist. In Ecuador, most people are either Catholic or Christians who have converted from Catholicism to Evangelism. Being that they have converted, they are VERY religious in all aspects of their daily lifestyle. My host family, now that they are retired, spends every moment of their spare time at church or church related events. We pray before every meal…even in the food court. And when it comes to birthday parties, the only acceptable party is a “Christian” party. This means, no alcohol, only Christian music, and absolutely no dancing. Dancing, in all other aspects of the Ecuadorian culture is crucial to any festive gathering. The Evangelists don´t like to partake in dancing because the music that usually accompanies the dancing is not of religious background.
So, at my Christian party, we ate, sang Christian songs, and everyone gave short speeches about the things they like about me and the personal experiences they have had with me. It was a very sweet, yet awkward while on the spot. We ended with the ritual of the cake. First they sing Happy Birthday (in English and in Spanish), then, after blowing out the candles, they tell you to take a bite of the cake without using your hands. At this point, someone kindly shoves your face in the cake. Before anyone is allowed to eat cake, every person or family unit in the room must take a picture with the birthday person and his or her cake. Then, you get to eat the cake. It’s quite the experience.
The next night we were invited to my friend Elizabeth’s house for dinner. I didn’t realize until we arrived that it was another birthday party! Her mom had prepared a gourmet seafood meal. Dad even got to help make the patacones (fried green plantains)! It was delicious and her family was so excited to meet my family. We ate until we were stuffed and then out came the cake that Elizabeth’s mom had made. Can you guess what was next?? Yep, Happy Birthday songs, cake in the face, and pictures with the cake.
Pictures with the cake...after cleaning my face!If only Ecuador had a Costco
Also, while in Machala, Mom and Dad met Bryce, the only other volunteer from my program in Machala. We met up at Nice Cream Ice Cream, the popular hangout downtown. Bryce and I have instilled the tradition of taking all of our guest to get ice cream at Nice Cream, another popular way to cool off in Machala. Mom and Dad included Bryce in the cool souvenirs from home group and brought him a nice Santa Cruz shirt. The host family was going to get SC shirts too but when I asked them if there was anything specific they would like from the U.S. they requested nuts and vitamins, go figure. Nuts are expensive and limited to the selection of peanuts and almonds here. Vitamins are apparently really really expensive yet highly desired. People in Ecuador run businesses of importing vitamins and wellness drinks from the U.S. and then selling them for triple the price in Ecuador. Lourdes and Alfonso specifically requested their daily vitamins in Costco size containers of 500 tablets. They’ve been the U.S. on few occasions and are very familiar with Costco and its greatness of buying bulk at cheaper rates. I think if Mom and Dad could’ve fit more in their suitcases, Lourdes would’ve asked for a lot more items from Costco!
Bananas!!!
The last thing we did while in Machala was to visit a banana plantation. Don’t forget, Machala is the banana capital of the world! If you come, you’re sure to see bananas everywhere you go. Pancho, husband of my host sister, Marietta, owns several banana farms in the surrounding areas of Machala. He offered to give us the grand tour. The production and systems of the banana farm were incredibly simple yet fascinating. He took us through the process of cutting the bananas from the trees, to the cleaning, to the boxing and ready to ship to the U.S. He left us with some stickers from his bananas so that Mom and Dad could search for bananas in stores back at home that came from his farm. Turns out, they already found some!
I think Mom and Dad were incredibly pleased with their visit to Machala and they definitely left reassured that I am being well taken care of here in the home of Lourdes and Alfonso.
Unfortunately the two-week visit had to come to an end. It was hard for me to let Mom and Dad go back home. They were able to come almost exactly half way through my year here, which was really perfect timing. As much as I’m enjoying my time and experiences in Ecuador, I still miss home and family more than I had anticipated. This experience has been a complete whirlwind and has taught me so much and I know in the three and a half months I have left, I am going to encounter even more surprises that the crazy country of Ecuador has to offer.
The last thing we did while in Machala was to visit a banana plantation. Don’t forget, Machala is the banana capital of the world! If you come, you’re sure to see bananas everywhere you go. Pancho, husband of my host sister, Marietta, owns several banana farms in the surrounding areas of Machala. He offered to give us the grand tour. The production and systems of the banana farm were incredibly simple yet fascinating. He took us through the process of cutting the bananas from the trees, to the cleaning, to the boxing and ready to ship to the U.S. He left us with some stickers from his bananas so that Mom and Dad could search for bananas in stores back at home that came from his farm. Turns out, they already found some!
I think Mom and Dad were incredibly pleased with their visit to Machala and they definitely left reassured that I am being well taken care of here in the home of Lourdes and Alfonso.
Unfortunately the two-week visit had to come to an end. It was hard for me to let Mom and Dad go back home. They were able to come almost exactly half way through my year here, which was really perfect timing. As much as I’m enjoying my time and experiences in Ecuador, I still miss home and family more than I had anticipated. This experience has been a complete whirlwind and has taught me so much and I know in the three and a half months I have left, I am going to encounter even more surprises that the crazy country of Ecuador has to offer.
My host family came to see off my parents. So nice!**In my next blog entry I’ll give a little insight to exactly what I mean by these so called “surprises” and “whirlwinds.”
