Discovery

The other day i was forming a letter to write to my host parents about the various issues i am facing in their house. Some being that they call me ¨la chica¨ which is what they call their maid and now the father calls me Maria which he also calls the maid even though her name is Daisy. This is extremely offensive in general but in Paraguay even more so considering that maids are kind of considered beneath normal people, at least in my family. I also said in my letter the other issues of them not talking to me and discussing issues with Fernando, AFS guy in my city, before I even know that there is an issue. As I was writing this let the other day I received a text from Fernando saying that my mother had called him was very angry with me, ironic I know. So then I started writing a letter to Fernando to explain my situation as well because it is easier to get my thoughts across when I have time to think and look up words if necessary. When I met with Fernando we agreed that it was weird how they had a student but didn’t want me to go out or have friends over and didn’t speak to me. Once I was done meeting with Fernando I wasn’t going to let my mother get off easy so I confronted her with my issues. One of the first things I asked her was why her and her family wanted a exchange student in their family and she responded fast and precisely ¨so that you can teach my daughter English¨ there was to hesitation in her voice or no sign that it was the wrong answer. So that explains why I have been addressed as Maria and La Chica because I am the live in tutor.

                I was going to text Fernando to tell him this not so shocking news however I was out of credit on my phone and was unable to contact him. In the morning I received a message from him saying that my mother said all was peachy and other lies that she threw in. she is telling me I am just a maid and to AFS that she wants me to live there but sense I am not one of her children she can hit with a belt, which she does to the kids, she goes off and cries to AFS. I am not stopping the process to get out of the house because I, like the average person, do not like being treated like scum and that’s all I am to them.

                 To clear up:

-This situation is not a lack of skill of Spanish issues because this is what many of you readers are thinking I can clearly communicate my feelings it is just a matter of my host mothers word verses mine however now I have more people seeing how utterly insane she is.

-it is not a thing that being more open is going to fix they believe me to be almost not a person and this is a relatively rich family and it is there way or no way sucking up has gotten me nowhere.

-I am looking for a new family it is a process that is why I requested no one send any mail because I will probably not get it once I leave the house because mail here doesn’t get forwarded and it will be in the father’s name anyways so if you want me to receive the mail do not send it until further update-

-The thing is though the family situation is worse I am falling more in love with this country, minus the heat.