Every day, we are surrounded by different perspectives. Look around you: the person next to you has a different perspective, your friend has a different perspective, your teacher, members of your family too. We all walk around in different shoes, but when we travel and get the chance to step into another person’s shoes, those shoes can seem remarkably different from the ones we're used to.
For example, today I went to my mentor's house for lunch. Natalia, my mentor, and I just met after learning that we will be teaching classes together until November. And when we planned to have lunch, she invited several members of her family. Upon arrival, I already was greeted with a kiss on the cheek and hug by her grandmother, mother, son, partner, father-in-law, cousin and niece. That's a lot of family to meet after just having made one person’s acquaintance!
But I'm used to family here being an ever-present reality in Soith America; I started getting used to this fact while living in Ecuador. But when I compare the concept of family here to my concept of family at home, it can seem overwhelmingly different! In general, the United States is less family-centered.
