The document describes the author's experience as a 16-year-old exchange student living in Riobamba, Ecuador during the summer of 1969. They stayed with the Granda family and became very close with their host family, spending time together shopping at markets, playing sports, visiting waterfalls, and traveling to other cities. The author reflects that they could not have had a more perfect experience and still remembers that summer vividly over 40 years later with great affection.

1. It was the summer of 1969. I was 16 years old. I spent the summer in Ecuador as an exchange student.

2. I lived in the city of Riobamba, in the of the Andes mountains.

3. I stayed with the Granda family.

4. I became very close to my Ecuatorian family. Oswaldo Roberto Lilián Diego Fabián “ Mami” “ Papi”

5. This was our house and the street where we lived.

6. More pictures of our casa .

7. From the top of our roof, there was a beautiful view of Chimborazo. Carmen, Lili’s best friend.

8. I loved the breathtaking landscape around Riobamba!

9. Riobamba in 1969.

10. What did I do that summer...? ....shopped at the local market with Oswaldo, Lili, and Carmen...

11. ....played tennis, went to the park, visited with two other exchange students, got together with friends....

12. ...laughed... ...went to parties...

13. ....visited the “ quinta ,” took walks, had picnics, bought handicrafts....

14. ...and watched as the poor and indigenous worked hard.

15. One week-end we went to the town of Baños to bathe in the warm, volcano-warmed, mineral waters. On the way home, we stopped at a waterfall....

16. We always had a lot of fun together....

17. I traveled to Guayaquil to visit the family of a boy I knew.

18. I also spent time in Quito, at Carmen’s house. Carmen’s friends took me to the Equatorial line, just north of Quito.

19. One foot in the northern hemisphere, one in the southern.

20. I do not believe that I could have had a more perfect experience than I did. 40 years later, I still remember that summer very vividly and with great affection.

21. Luckily, in my line of work, I’m not likely to ever forget. September 2006: Roberto visiting me in the classroom where I teach Spanish.

22. Made with and in honor of all of the wonderful people of Latin America, but especially my dear Ecuatorian family – who will forever remain “ mi familia .” Music: “Quiéreme mucho” from the album “Latino Americano” by Franck Pourcel. (This music was frequently heard in the Granda household that summer.)

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