Mariana

Our empleada, Mariana, invited me to her house a couple of months ago, and today it finally happened! I thought, judging from everyone else's attitudes and private reactions to the offer, that it would be just me and Lupe who visited, but the whole gang came out to play! Lupe, Marcelo, Diana, Melo, and Gabi (We'll spare ourselves the agony of reading about how Diana behaved). It's a two hour trip in bus for her every day, plus a 20-minute walk from her home to the bus station. In car, it's about half an hour to 45 minutes depending on the traffic. AND, Mariana works at another house in the mornings walking a dog and care for an elderly woman before she comes to our apartment to cook and clean every day. She has meetings at the church almost every night of the week, so her day lasts from about 5:45 in the morning to 10 or 11 at night. She works HARD. And still smiles and puts up with my broken spanish every day as we share stories. She might be my favorite person in Ecuador.

She and her husband, Paul, recently bought some land in the country where they have a great big garden, two dogs, chickens, guinnea pigs, and their very first home! It has a beautiful view of the surrounding valleys and is a little bit warmer than Quito. We ate soup, potatoes, a delicious salad, and guinnea pig! Pretty tasty, actually. After lunch we got a tour of the garden, and Mariana let me pick fresh fruits from their garden to bring home.

I can't express how rare and special today was for me. In this culture, the majority of empleadas are like new-age slaves. Many have to live in the family's house, only receive one day of vacation per week, and are absolutely treated like inferior beings. Our family is uniquely polite and there is a much better relationship than exists in some of the houses I've visited. However, I hear the way some members of the family speak about Mariana, and I can tell that there isn't much interest in her private life. I talk to her and help whenever I can, always in private and secret, so I've learned a lot about her family and what she likes and doesn't like. She's teaching me how to cook certain Ecuadorian dishes, and she is the only person who actually remembers what my schedule is like week to week. She always knows when I've been at the university versus at Mensajeros, and she remembers where I've traveled over the weekends and when I have big things coming up during the week. She's fabulous. So, for us to see her home and meet her family was a very, very big thing in this culture.

On the way to her house, Diana asked where Mariana's husband works... cricket, cricket, cricket. I waited to see if anybody else would respond, but nobody knew. Nor did they know his name or if they had any kids together. Hmph. I explained that Paul, her husband, works for a construction and maintenance company and is currently working on a project at the new US embassy site in Quito. They do not have any children, but there's a 14 year-old boy named Jairo that lives with them because his situation at home was pretty rough. He helps around the house and is basically like their son, because they have no other children. Jairo likes to play soccer and ride his bike on the dirt paths in their town, and doesn't go to school. He's been living there for 3 years.

So there you have it.


Eating lunch. Mariana is at the head of the table.


This is like their own private sanctuary in the house. Kind of ironic to be smiling with Jesus beside us on the cross...


Jairo and Mariana in the garden.


Jairo and Larkin picking fruit.


Mariana with the tomates de arbol.


Paul holding a guinnea pig.


Mariana, Lupe, and Larkin in the garden.