Today was the first day that we had lunch with our host families in La Cienega. I found out that my host mom is Dulce. I was nervous because I know some Spanish but I didn't want to offend anyone at the home by not knowing what they were saying. My nerves were eased when I found out that someone from Tres Mariposas Montessori was going to be going along with us. The person that came with us is Joylin and he is fantastic. The house was larger than I expected it to be but it is not large by any means. I only got to see one section of the house because the rest was blocked off by a curtain. What I did see was a small area where we could all sit down and a very small area to cook. The family was so nice and Dulce was very welcoming. She is full of energy and was very excited to see us which made me feel comfortable in her home. We asked her how many children she has and she told us that she has a whopping nine kids! We later asked her how many people live in her home and she said 11 so all her children must still live at home. Her children are beautiful and I love her little one year old boy he is so cute! I hope I get the chance to hold him and play with him sometime this week. The food that she made was wonderful. There was rice, beans, chicken, and two different kinds of potatoes. The one kind was sweet and the other kind tasted like the onions they were seasoned with. The one that had an onion taste reminded me of the crispy onion straws that you might put on a hamburger; so I liked them. It was very rainy on this day and when we were walking down the street right outside of Dulce’s home one of my group member’s flip flop broke. Dulce saw this and ran inside and gave my group member a new pair for her to wear home. I thought this was so sweet. Here is someone who doesn’t have much but she didn't even hesitate giving her sandals away so my partner could walk home safely.
On the second visit I thought that we would be able to interact with the family a bit more because the last time that I was there Dulce spent most of the time in the kitchen and I only saw a few of the children for a couple of minutes. However, it was pretty much the same the second time we were there. One difference about this visit is that we had more people from Tres Mariposas Montessori come with us. They were the other volunteers who are from Canada. They speak French but they also know a lot of Spanish so they ended up dominating a lot of the conversation. I didn't really mind it because I got to listen to them conversing and see what I understood. I like to ask Joylin how to say difference things while we are there to practice Spanish but this time it was a little difficult because he was sitting farther away from us with the people from Canada. I really want to get to know Dulce better and talk to her while we are there. In order to do so I decided to come up with different things that I wanted to ask her. I then asked my Spanish teacher how to say these phrases so that I can ask Dulce tomorrow. The food today was as good as it was yesterday. Dulce made brown rice and beans; French fries; fried eggplant; salad; and chicken. There was also fresh orange juice. Dulce just always seems so happy to have us in her home and to cook for us; I love it. She even hugged us on our way out. I think that after the end of the visits that the girls in my group and I are going to feel a close to her.
When working at the school today I was talking to a staff member about how great my host family is. She was telling me how people here are so generous even though they don’t have much. What I have come to realize here is that sometimes the more you have the more selfish you become. The people here just amaze me they give even when they can’t afford to and you don’t find that often. They also seem to be so content and happy with where they are at in life. I feel like I can learn so much from the people here. I am learning the importance of giving especially since I can afford to do so. I am also learning to be content with what I have because if you are always wanting something more you are never going to truly be happy.
On the second visit I thought that we would be able to interact with the family a bit more because the last time that I was there Dulce spent most of the time in the kitchen and I only saw a few of the children for a couple of minutes. However, it was pretty much the same the second time we were there. One difference about this visit is that we had more people from Tres Mariposas Montessori come with us. They were the other volunteers who are from Canada. They speak French but they also know a lot of Spanish so they ended up dominating a lot of the conversation. I didn't really mind it because I got to listen to them conversing and see what I understood. I like to ask Joylin how to say difference things while we are there to practice Spanish but this time it was a little difficult because he was sitting farther away from us with the people from Canada. I really want to get to know Dulce better and talk to her while we are there. In order to do so I decided to come up with different things that I wanted to ask her. I then asked my Spanish teacher how to say these phrases so that I can ask Dulce tomorrow. The food today was as good as it was yesterday. Dulce made brown rice and beans; French fries; fried eggplant; salad; and chicken. There was also fresh orange juice. Dulce just always seems so happy to have us in her home and to cook for us; I love it. She even hugged us on our way out. I think that after the end of the visits that the girls in my group and I are going to feel a close to her.
When working at the school today I was talking to a staff member about how great my host family is. She was telling me how people here are so generous even though they don’t have much. What I have come to realize here is that sometimes the more you have the more selfish you become. The people here just amaze me they give even when they can’t afford to and you don’t find that often. They also seem to be so content and happy with where they are at in life. I feel like I can learn so much from the people here. I am learning the importance of giving especially since I can afford to do so. I am also learning to be content with what I have because if you are always wanting something more you are never going to truly be happy.