Sunday Funday

As I’ve said before living with a family has really made the transition here dramatically easier. Little consistencies in family life, like a Sunday tradition, have helped me feel much more comfortable here. The Sunday tradition here isn’t lying around and eating pancakes like it is at my house in the states, but ending the week in the same way every Sunday is very comforting.

Every Sunday my family and I go to La Parque Carolina in the middle of Quito. I would say this park is about the size of central park in NYC, but completely filled with sports. My family goes to the humongous soccer section of the park and the son, the dad, and I play with the Dad’s older friends. These friendly games of Soccer remind me of 16’’ softball games in Chicago, with a bunch of old guys who obviously used to be quite the soccer players, but after a few to many Pilseners (the unbelievably popular beer in Ecuador) over the course of 50 years, have slowed down a bit.

(My host mom and host brother are sitting on the bench)

I really enjoy going to the park. Not because I enjoy being the gringo that’s bad at soccer and

always out of breathe, but because I really like seeing how a whole city can come together over one sport. La Parque Carolina is packed to the brim every time I’ve gone with people playing soccer and having a great time. I just can’t get over the hundreds, if not thousands, of people that seem so happy being together playing a sport that they all deeply love.

(A small section of the park, the soccer fields go back to the left quite a ways)

After we go to the park we always go out to eat, which while a treat in the US is not as much of a treat here. I far prefer my host mom’s home Ecuadorian cooking to KFC or mediocre Chinese food, but it is a nice way to end the day.

Speaking of food I’m getting up the nerve to ask my host mom if its ok to take pictures of her food, hopefully an all food post is coming soon!