When we got to my house, I felt a sense of immediate relief. It was a beautiful house in a relatively safe neighborhood not too far from Lisa's, and as I would soon learn, not very far from Chelsie's house as well. My host mom answered the door. She had a huge smile on her face as she welcomed me in. Her daughter, Caro came downstairs next. She spoke fluent English and explained to me that her mom does not speak any English, which I was actually very excited about as that meant I would really have to push my communication skills. Next my host dad introduced himself, and I learned that he had taught himself English by reading magazines and watching tv. His English was very good and he was able to help me communicate to the host mom a lot in the following weeks. My host brother finally waved shyly from the upstairs, and I learned he was an engineering student at the University. That was basically the extent of our interaction as he was studying for final exams the majority of our stay.
Next I learned that the tia (aunt) of the host mom was also living in the house. She was 89 years old and able to get around completely fine and hold many detailed conversations. She became one of my favorite people during my stay as she was always very patient with me and made me feel so welcomed. The dog was also introduced to me, and the siamese cat that became a quick enemy for reasons I will explain later.
I unpacked a little then headed to Unicenter to buy a cell phone. They laughed at my driver's license and commented that they have never seen anything like it before. Apparently all they use are state issued cards that are similar to a social security number but cannot be used to access any other personal information. I was already learning a lot and was completely exhausted but could not refuse the offer when my host sister asked if I wanted to go to her friend's house with her later that night.
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