Carolyn: My Host Family

By Carolyn Kloecker
I recently recieved some exciting news about the family I will be living with in Ecuador! My host mom's name is Yolanda Cordova, and she is an older woman with one of her sons living in the house, as well as her daughter and her respective family (including four kids) living next door. This is a family that a good friend of mine suggested I live with, because she had already been on the program to Ecuador in Fall 2007. I will also have wireless internet, which will be a big plus so that I can keep in contact with friends and family.
Liz Girten, a fellow 'blogger' for Spanish & Illinois, has told me all about the area I will be living in. We looked at Google Maps together and she showed me how the bus system works and where I can get a chip for a cell phone while in Ecuador. The house I will be living in is very close to the bus station, where I will take a bus to Cumbayá (a town just outside of Quito, about 15 minutes) where the university is located.
In terms of my host family, I am very excited about being able to have young children nearby. I love to work with kids, and in college that does not usually get to happen very often, except when I teach swim lessons for a couple of hours a week, or when I do community work with kids. I have also heard so much about how nice Yolanda is from my friend who lived with her, and they still keep in contact often. I really can't wait to meet my new familia!

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 18, 2008 at 10:06 AM

    Carolina,
    Just make sure you don't spend so much time on-line that you don't really experience first-hand everything that you can about Ecuador. Declare certain days "internet-free." Tell yourself that you'll only get on-line after you have spent one full hour talking with your host family. Etc. It's easy to get caught up with staying in touch with people from home; it's okay to lose touch for one semester while you're immersed! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ms. KloeckerDecember 18, 2008 at 11:45 PM

    Thanks, actually Brandon Lanners told me the same thing as well. I'm just happy that I won't have to spend a lot of money calling to the U.S. now that I know I can use Skype for free! And I can update my blog whenever I want :) But I'll have to have some experiences in order to write about them, so I'll make sure to focus on that! Thanks for the advice.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vocabulary for Parent-Teacher Conferences

Image
I'm very happy that so many students responded to our community partner's need for help. Our students' language skills will help Central High School's Latino parents better communicate with the teachers during the parent-teacher conferences next week. Central's secretary will contact the students directly to schedule times with them. Here is some vocabulary help for students. Materias. School subjects are "materias" NOT "sujetos." You should remember subjects from your intro Spanish courses, but here are some reminders: historia, matemáticas, inglés, física, química, biología, educación física, etc. General vocabulary. Notas = grades; aprobar = to pass; suspender = to fail; conducta, comportamiento = behavior. Topics. Ms. Citraro offers the following advice: "The topics and vocabulary that would come up are about the subjects at school. For example: no ha entregado las tareas tiene que tomar el examen otra vez habla mucho en clase falta muc
Read more

How to Correctly File Hispanic Names

Image
I know that community-based learning students don't like it when they are asked to file during their time in the community. However, their learning goals are to improve their Spanish and knowledge of Latino cultures. Filing information on clients with Hispanic names helps them with both. And imagine the impact of mis-filing for the organizations where our students work and and their clients. That's why I was unhappy to learn that many SPAN 232 students did not do well on their exam section asking them to put some Hispanic names in alphabetical order. I can imagine that some students feel that putting names into alphabetical order isn't important. It is! It is especially important in the organizations where they work because they are dealing with clients who may not have "accommodated" to the American system of using only one last name. And it is especially important for clients whose papers are so important for their legal status, medical information and oth
Read more

Interview with Jessica Horn of ACCIÓN Chicago

Image
By Carolyn Kloecker , Span 232 student This past week I completed an assignment for my Business Communications class (SPCM 211) which was to interview someone in a field that I am interested in working for in the future. I asked her many questions about the organization, and lots of information can be found on their website www.accionchicago.org . This organization is a Community Partner with Spanish & Illinois, and has an extensive connection with the Spanish-speaking community in the Chicagoland area. Here are a few of the questions and answers from Jessica: Is ACCIÓN a fairly new organization? How did it begin? ACCIÓN Chicago started in 1994, but the parent organization, ACCIÓN was started in 1961. It is the largest micro-lending organization, and it began in Venezuela, and took root in the U.S. in 1991. How do loan officers communicate with clients? Mostly by phone, as people call in to the office to get a loan for their small business. The website is also a main form o
Read more