2. Please explain your host stay with your family. Tell us about their lives, their history as much as you can explain about what is like to live in Cusco. What do you feel you have in common with your host family, what differences?

For most of my stay in Peru, I lived with three other students in the house of a Peruvian host. Our host was an old woman named Carola, and she welcomed us with open arms. I knew as soon as she brought us through the door to her apartment that this place was not just going to be my room for the next two weeks, it would be my home. Carola lived in a very nice and quaint apartment along with her 97 year old mother. Her three sons are all grown and are living on their own, and unfortunately her husband has passed away. Carola’s story is quite tragic. Her husband died in a car accident more than 20 years ago, and that same accident left her in a coma for over a month. After she woke up, her memory was damaged and she faced some mental health issues. Eventually she would lose the multiple businesses that her and her husband started along with a large portion of her family’s wealth. Also, tragically, she lost favor from her husband’s extremely wealthy family and would not inherit any of the millions of dollars that her husband would have received. Despite these horrible events, Carola would recover and raise her three sons to be successful. Now she is retired and is a common host for international students. She told us how she was always interested in meeting students from other countries, and she proved to be a wonderful host.

Carola told us to call her “Mamatia”. We asked to call her “Abuela” one day, but she asked for “Mamatia” instead. It translates to “mother-aunt”, but I guess it must be a term of endearment for her. Whenever we came home from our days activities, she would be waiting for us with a huge meal prepared. Dinner was the best chance for us to talk and get to know her, and she opened up to us very quickly. It was not long before we were talking politics and swapping life stories. I was amazed at how open she was in talking about some very sad parts of her life. Many of our conversations were very interesting, and we often switched back and forth between Spanish and English. One night, the other students and I managed to explain the American Electoral College in Spanish, which we thought was fairly impressive. Interacting with Mamatia was one of the most rewarding experiences of the trip. I got the chance to practice my Spanish with a woman who spoke enough English to assist me and was able to learn so much about Peruvian culture just by talking to her. It was such a valuable experience, and I am very happy that I had the chance to stay with Mamatia rather than stay in a hotel.