- My baby sister
On November 18th, my host mother here in Tena had a baby. She had a girl. It is very difficult to explain having a baby to people in Spanish.
I received a call from my host mom at 3:20pm, on the 17th. She said that she was in labor. She called me because she could not get through to my host dad. I was nervous. “Oh no! What do I do?” She asked that I go home and tell my grandmother to come to the hospital. When I got to my grandmother’s house, she was not home. My grandmother was at another hospital because she was sick.
At this point I was lost and confused because all of this was in Spanish, and I am still not great with speaking the language. On top of that, I had no idea what to do. I went to my house to tell my family. Everyone in my house was asleep. At that point, I was in a panic. “I have no idea what to do and my mom is having a baby”, I thought to myself. I sat there trying to think of what I would do if I were in the US, but I still had no idea. So I just waited hoping it would be alright. Well, in the end, it all worked out and the next day my mom had my baby sister.
The hardest thing for me was explaining to the children why mom and dad where not home. Having to explain that mom was having a baby to a two and three year old in Spanish is not easy; much less figuring out what to do with no one home, and a new born coming home soon. My Spanish is getting better but it is hard to understand what a toddler is saying when
they are crying and when they say, “cabalo” for “pescado” (fish).
As a result of this experience, though, I now have a best friend: my two year old brother. He now wants to play all the
time and is so excited when I come home after work. It is great to have a cute baby living with me, and my best friend. I feel like I am part of the family. My brother wants to play with me. My mom trusted me and my Spanish enough to get help and care for the children.
Ecuador is great!
“Sometimes”, said Pooh, “the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”
