The Ecuadorian family is quite different than the American family. One of the biggest differences is the closeness of the family. In many cases you will have a thirty something year old son or daughter living with the mother and father. This is certainly a very rare occurrence in the United States, but due to the recession has become more common. As is the case with my host family, the son is living on his own with a family but visits with his wife and daughter almost daily to eat lunch or dinner. It is amusing to see a grown man calling his mother “mami” and staying as much as he does. There is even a close relationship between the daughter-in-law and the mother, which is rarely the case in the United States. It is also different to see so many of the mothers staying at home and being in charge of all of the cooking and cleaning while the husband works. This is not the case in every situation however. For example, my teacher at Amauta is a single mother with two kids who works during the day. There is also a clear importance on family and seeing everybody regularly with frequent get-togethers and parties. It is also interesting because almost everybody lives within five minutes of each other and are always around. After speaking with my mother, one of her concerns was the new educational system with some students taking classes during the day, and others taking classes at night, that it would disrupt the family dynamic and the closeness of the family. It will be interesting to see whether this closeness can continue, or if it will eventually go away as it has in the United States.
