"My Childhood in Ecuador" by Angela M. Kabatznick

I spent the greatest part of my childhood with my grand mother. It was a "home sweet home," where all the family had a profound respect for her. She was surrounded by love, care, and help. In other words, she was treated as a queen. I remember she liked to spend time sitting on her rocking chair, looking through the window at the nice garden, flowers, and people going by. My aunt and uncles taught us how to give her love and respect. The first thing we had to do as soon as we got home, was to go and see Grandma, say hello, and kiss her. Because she was sitting on her chair, we almost had to go in our knees to greet her and give her a kiss on her forehead. She was a very nice lady. She never had to work. When Grandpa passed away, her children took care of her. These wonderful memories have been with me since I was a child. In her home I learned good manners, respect, love and the warm feeling of a beautiful family home.

The area around my grandmother's home was a nice residential place years ago. The houses were chalets with large gardens: flowers, trees, and pure clean air. I do remember listening to the birds and frogs singing or making cluck, cluck, sounds asking for water. We knew so well that they were calling for rain. Yes indeed, usually we did have rain. However, in time, the city and population grew, and all of this neighborhood has changed into a developed business sector.

The small houses, changed into apartment buildings. The gardens became stores, discotechs, hotels, restaurants, night clubs. The area became a very touristic place that is called " La Mariscal". The city where I come from is Quito, the capital of Ecuador, a small country in South America. We are between Colombia and Peru. Though we are a small country, we have the privilege of being recognized as having a rich and varied landscape full of butterflies, birds, and one of the largest varieties of orchards and medicinal plants. Our jungles have bananas caocoa, coffee, and our tropics thrive with fruit, vegetables and the most fabulous and beautiful roses and flowers. All of this abundance is exported. There is a saying: "Any seed that is dropped on our soil will grow." We are fortunate to have all these natural privileges from our mother earth.