Personal Narrative: My Trip To Ecuador

My grandfather asked me “Which one?” I respond “Let’s get this one”. Little did I know that guinea pig was my dinner. Guinea pigs or cuy are not pets but food in Ecuador.When I arrived at the airport it looked like any typical airport, but it felt as if I was in a different world. I remember seeing a whole bunch of random people at the airport. And then this whole group of people is crowding around me and it took me a while to put all the pieces together and I see my brother saying hi to everyone and then I realized holy cow this is my family. On the way to the car I was counting how many people were actually here and I had 6 uncle 's, 6 aunt 's, more than 15 cousins and 4 grandparents. I could not believe my eyes for the first time in eleven years I was with family. The first two weeks living in Ecuador was a challenge.

If it was not for him; I probably would not have come out of my shell. My grandfather taught me the importance of family. He reminded that this may be the only opportunity I may actually experience the idea of being with family. I listened to him and being in Ecuador taught me my true identity; going to Ecuador taught me what it meant to be with family. When I got back to the U.S, and a few months have passed by. My mother’s father had passed away and it was heartbreaking. The one man who really made my time in Ecuador good was gone. Before my trip to Ecuador I saw my myself more as an American than an Ecuadorian. I was accustomed to the U.S lifestyle such as going to baseball games or eating hamburgers. In my home, we spoke Spanish, but more often than not I spoke English. Even till today I have never experienced family bonding ; it was always just my father, my mother, my brother, and me. I never had the experience of going to grandma’s house and having Thanksgiving dinner. I never felt the feeling of receiving Christmas presents from all my family members. Till this day I have never gotten the chance to say “Hey mom I’m going over my cousins