My apprenticeship
search found some success in December when I began working for a local
craftsman. Here we are gathering rocks by the river and an up close look at his
mortar and pestle work.
Amidst my apprenticeship work, I, as
hinted, also changed my host family…yes, that’s the same guy from above. After
working with Edison several times and falling ill yet again, him and his family
presented themselves as a welcoming new host family. Here I am pictured with my
host parents and 3 brothers and with the rest of the families during our
region’s Christmas party.
After moving in with my host family, I
quickly learned to love the new routine: every weekend I would get the chance
to help my parents sell in the Sunday market in the capital city, Quito. It was
always a great opportunity to connect with my host family, see a lively part of
Ecuador, and learn how terrible at selling stuff I am.
One of the best ways I got to develop my
relationships with my host family was our weekly family trips to the market.
Before walking around the crowded, loud market we would go out
for encebollada, a super tasty soup originally from the coastal part of
Ecuador. Here is a very intense picture of me eating encebollado one
weekend.
On the topic of food, here is a picture of
my two brothers and I making humitas,
or sorta corn bread, that is often enjoyed with coffee. In this case we got the
whole family together including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for an
evening; by the end we had about 100 humitas
that were gone in about 4 days. Aside it is my grandma’s cornfield we went to
that afternoon for the abundance of corn needed.
One of the most enjoyable days of my
experience was New Years with my entire extended; and part of that was being
able to share it with my real family. Here’s a video of my brothers using a
sparker as midnight came closer and a picture with both of my families as 2017
came around.
Here a pictures of my two younger host
brothers, during their respective birthdays. One part of this experience I will
cherish forever is the relationships I was able to build with my siblings;
especially coming from my first experience where my siblings very often
disengaged and disinterested in me being there.
I hope these pictures give you a quick peek
into what my life has been like, through host families, apprenticeships ( not
so much) and travel. Before I end, I’ll leave you with these GCY exposés:
featuring GCY shirt in a field, bridges, and sprawling landscapes from my bus
stop.
As
my homecoming date comes ever closer, I am now left with another difficult
task: reflecting and processing my experience. Seen here is my face for the
next few weeks until I can really get a grip on what I went
