Mi familia paniagua

Through a serendipitous turn of events, I found myself a wonderful and caring host family for the last month in Costa Rica. I met the Paniagua family through Kim, the hilarious woman from University of Washington that I mentioned in earlier posts. She had been staying with them for a few weeks and suggested that I move in with them after she left for more adventures.

Let me explain the Paniaguas because they are quite an extraordinary family. The two parents are Cecelia and Francisco, or Kiko as everyone calls him, and they have raised eleven children. Yes, eleven. That is a lot. All of their sons and daughter are grown and all but a handful have kid-lets of their own. The oldest daughter even became a grandmother herself a few months ago.

Along with family members, Cecelia and Francisco have always welcomed people into their home. They have taken in neighbors that lost their homes, children who need a break from their own angry households, visiting relatives who need extra support, and (of course) foreigners, like me, looking for a family and some Spanish practice.

With such a large, busy family, there are always visiting children and in-laws and grandchildren chasing one another through the house. From what I can see, they all treat each other very lovingly and respectfully. Everyone helps out with dishes when they come over for dinner and watches out for all the running children. It is beautiful to see.

And they have welcomed me as a twelfth sibling. “You can come back to Costa Rica anytime you want because you have a large family with eleven other siblings here,” Margarita reminded me during my farewell dinner.

This has been a great decision for me. Although I enjoyed the luxuries of the field station, I missed feeling at home and cared for by a family. There is no internet and no fresh papaya, but the family gives me plenty of hugs, too much coffee, and as many corn tortillas as I can stuff myself with. This is a happy household and I am so happy to be a part of it.