Cuernavaca Host Family

I got lucky when I was placed with this host family. The Carranzas have four children, but the oldest has married and moved away. The younger three are all boys, and I would guess all in their twenties. The oldest is out of school, and as far as I can tell doesn’t have a job and isn’t in any hurry to get one. The husband works in the garage at home, I think doing something with cars or welding. My host mother told me the first day I was here, but not being accustomed to listening to Spanish yet, all I caught was “windows” and “doors” so I have to go off of observation. Whatever he does, it brings in enough money to make this family pretty dang well-off. My house is pretty much a mansion.

I really like my host mother. I’m pretty sure she’s the one who is interested in hosting foreign students. I generally eat meals alone with her, and she speaks to me at a slow pace and lets me just listen to her ramble about religion and politics and her favorite kinds of cheese. During the day, she goes to family Bible study or visits sick people in the hospital. She’s a good lady. She's also the perfect Mexican housewife. She keeps the house in spectacular condition (the trash in my room is taken out every day, regardless of whether or not it needs it – I experimented with a gum wrapper once), and I generally find her in the kitchen. The boys are generally watching TV. Most of the shows are either soap operas or are from the U.S. and translated into Spanish, like Ripley’s Believe it or Not and several Disney channel shows.