La quinceañera en Ibarra

I’ve been quite horrible at keeping up with the “weekly” blog posts because life abroad has been filled to the brim; however, my first weekend with my homestay family is one that undoubtedly needs to be shared.

Homestay orientation day. We met our Ecuadorian families that we will be living with for the next six weeks over coffee, pastries, and fruit. They asked all the typical questions of me: What’s your family like?, What are you studying?, and Do you have a boyfriend? (<- the Ecuadorian favorite). Qué chèvere. It’s also important to note that my Ecuadorian family only speaks Spanish so I was navigating my first impression with quite a lot of thought and a montón of grammatical errors.

Prior to meeting them, I had been briefed on the fact that I would be going to a fifteen year-old’s birthday party. Boy or a girl? I had no idea. Relaxed party in a backyard or an extravagant quinceañera? Couldn’t have told you. I wore the fanciest outfit that I brought from the states and figured I would be good to go. After meeting my host mom, I came to find out that we were going to the quinceañera of her niece and that I should probably change into something more formal if I had it in my suitcase… Arriving at their house I showed her all of the most formal wear that I brought, and she ended up lending me a dress from her closet (which she later let me keep, the most selfless host mom that she is). I stuffed my backpack with pajamas and clothes for the following day, and we then crammed into the car with my two twelve year-old host brothers to head off to only God-knew where, as far as my understanding went.

In the Heights

This trip to the quinceañera ended up being three hours as we drove from Quito to the city of Ibarra. Three hours in a car with my host family that I had just met, navigating Spanish.

After arriving at our hostel, we changed and got ready. I did the best I could to look formal with the almost non-existent makeup I had, my Nikes, and my host mom’s formal dress. She came to my room at the hostel and told me I looked beautiful… but that we also needed to get my hair done. I proceeded to live in the salon scene of In the Heights for the next hour as Spanish gossip filled the room and beautiful Latina women in my host mom’s family all got their hair, makeup, and nails done for the quinceañera.

We arrived at the party at five which was located at a marvelous venue nestled within the glorious mountains of Ibarra. I gave more than 30 besitos (the Ecuadorian greeting which involves a kiss on the side of the cheek) as I was introduced as my host family’s "hija" (daughter). This was the most cordial group of people I had ever met. Not one person gave me a strange look or communicated a sense of judgement the entire night. After meeting the whole family, we went into the reception room where speeches were given, the largest three course meal I’ve ever consumed in my life was served, a mariachi band made merry, and we danced until one in the morning.

Dance as a universal language

The dancing was my favorite part of the night because I came to understand that dance truly is a universal language. I was able to learn dances without speaking a word and dance with people without them knowing how "in-progress" my Spanish is. Everybody from the youngest kids in the room to the great grandpas were dancing for hours on end. I learned how to dance salsa, was spun around by my abuelito (grandpa), and led my host brothers in dances.

The following morning, short of five hours of sleep, we left our hostel for part two of the family reunion over breakfast. After trying my first Ecuadorian balón (plantain ball containing pork in this case), I figured we would be headed back to Quito, but the party migrated to the house of my host-mom’s sister. Here, my host family proceeded to converse for the following three hours, o más, over coffee and alcohol as I input as often as I could while fending off exhaustion from the following night and stumbling through Spanish with my new host family.

Following this reunion, my host family migrated to a restaurant for lunch where we feasted on one final meal all together, before we left Ibarra at around five in the afternoon.

We embarked on the three hour drive home, where I was hit with my first bout of culture shock. I was simply overwhelmed by the foreign culture of the entire fiesta, meeting around 50 people with a family I was unfamiliar with by my side, away from Wi-Fi and familiarity the whole weekend, and not speaking English the entire time. I didn’t understand why I felt overwhelmed because these people were some of the friendliest and most welcoming people I’ve ever met in my life. I did my best to cover up the few tears that escaped in the car from being overwhelmed. Not having the words to explain to my family why I was crying, let alone the words to describe it to myself, I let myself privately cry behind the protection of my curtain of hair. We ended up returning to our house in Quito, which I had yet to sleep in, around eight in the evening.

My host family then gave me the house keys, Wi-Fi password, and all the logistical necessities of my new, temporary home. They then informed me what bus route to take the following morning for my internship. I went to bed around eleven that evening and woke up at six the next morning for the start of a new week. In summary, this was a most brief synopsis of my fever dream of a weekend with my new host family! The most adventurous, confusing, tiring, yet enriching weekend of my life.