Home away from home

In March (yes, I am a month late on this one), I did a home-stay with a member of our community. Back in January we decided to start a home-stay program in which Manna PDs would live with community members for about a week. We wanted to present ourselves with the opportunity to get to know community members outside the Community Center setting and on a more personal level, while at the same time offering community members a chance to get to know us as individuals rather than simply as part of the Manna team or as Profes (what the kids call all of us at the library). Many people have already lived with families and more are to come in the following weeks before our summer volunteers get here. So far for everyone that has done a home-stay, it has been a great experience being able to be part of an Ecuadorian family within our community and see how they live their everyday lives.

The family I stayed with is a family of 4 with 2 kids, Ivan and Emilia, that are frequent visitors to our library and previous students of English class. Emilia also happens to be the smartest 4 year I have ever met. She can read in both Spanish AND English and can put things together that no 4 year old should be able to. For example, one night in home-stay, I was talking about my family and how I had an older brother who was 2 years old than me. Irina (the mom) asked how old he was and I said 26 (because he is almost 26) and then Emilia asked how old I was and I said 23. Emilia's response..."He isn't 2 years old than you, he is 3. If he was 2 years older than you, you would be 24." I stood corrected, by a 4 year old. 

It was an awesome experience to live within the community and see day to day workings. I even got a chance to spend the weekend with the family and experience a typical family involved Saturday with numerous extended family members living in the area. There are so many community members that we are close to and I just wish I had more time here to get to do another home-stay, but unfortunately, Summer Volunteers arrive in just about 2 weeks and then the day they leave in July, the new Program Directors arrive! Scary how fast time flies! But, I wish cherish the time I did get to spend living in the community.

Emilia and I showing off her 

splatter paint work of art!

Ivan in the process of creating his
one-of-a-kind!

Hope all is well and everyone's getting excited for summer (or in my case the dry season...its been down pouring continuously since last night here)!

Saludos,

Krysta

What have you always wanted to know about me?!!

Hey everyone,
If you have been keeping up with the Manna Ecuador Blog, you will have noticed that over the past few weeks Sarah has been interviewing PD's and giving family, friends, and blog readers the opportunity to get those burning questions answered by the Ecuador 2010 PDs. Well, this coming Friday, Sarah will be interviewing yours truly!! So she needs you all, and I need you all, to send in questions for me to answer to Sarah before Friday (email to sarah.scott@mannaproject.org)! They can be questions about my Nutrition work I have been doing, the amazing things one of my English students asks me in class everyday to translate, life in the Manna House, what life's like being a gringo in a foreign country, what color the walls are in my Ecuadorian room....ANYTHING!!

Sarah has some great suggestions as well about types of questions so click on the link below to find you where to send the questions and to read some other great question ideas!
Thanks in advance for sending in your questions! I look forward to hearing from you guys and answering your questions!

Manna Ecuador Blog- Krysta's Interview Questions! <------ Click me!

Check back soon for an update on our Nutrition Program and my last 4 months in Ecuador!
besitos,
Krysta