Luis Ochoa (center), an 18-year-old Rotary Youth Exchange student from Quito, Ecuador, is living with Lori and Mark Easterling on Fleming Island. -- Lamar Thames/Staff

Visitor sees U.S. Christmas
Holiday customs similar

By Lamar Thames
County Line editor

Luis Ochoa smiles knowingly when asked about the differences in holiday customs between Ecuador and the United States.

"There are not a lot of differences, really," says the quiet 18-year-old whose family lives in the Ecuadoran capitol of Quito, a city of about 2.5 million people in a valley high in the Andes. "We decorate the inside of the house and put up a tree just like you do here. But we don't put lights up outside. Some, but not much.

"We have Santa Claus, too, but in Ecuador he is known as Papa Noel, with the same white beard and red suit."

Luis is a Rotary Youth Exchange student living with Mark and Lori Easterling of Hibernia Oaks on Fleming Island. Although he has already graduated from high school in Ecuador, he attends classes at St. Johns Country Day School and wants to become a pilot. He may attend college in the United States.

"Maybe I would like to go to Florida State," he says, acknowledging the influence of Easterling, who attended FSU and has a son enrolled there. "It is a very nice school and I like the campus very much."

The Easterlings have made him feel welcome, he says. "This [host] family I have is really nice."

A highlight of his stay in the United States has been a trip to St. Augustine and an airplane ride he took around Northeast Florida with Ken Smallwood, who, like Mark Easterling, is a Rotarian.

"Gatorland was really nice; I had never seen an albino alligator before," Luis said as his expressive eyes widened. "And the airplane trip was fantastic, awesome. We flew over St. Augustine and the [St. Johns] river. I saw the Easterlings' house, too."

Luis' father is a colonel in the Ecuadoran military and his mother has an administrative position with the Marriott Hotel chain. The family keeps in touch through e-mail, which helps reduce the homesickness.

Except for the language, he said there are not a lot of cultural differences between the two countries.

"We watch ESPN, go to the same movies and listen to a lot of the same music," he said.

One big difference between teenagers, however, is in dancing.

"In Ecuador, we go to a lot of bars and clubs to dance," he said. "Latinos dance all the time. When I was a little, I would dance a lot. I remember dancing at my fifth birthday party."

Mark Easterling said Luis has made a smooth transition into the household.

"Our son is 20 and just left the house to go to college two years ago, so Luis fit in fine," he said. "The biggest adjustment is language as we both learn what to call certain things.

"A lot of people have the impression that maybe South America is a little backward, but that is far from the truth. Luis is from a very modern city and a good family. He's been raised well."

Since Luis is not allowed to drive as a Rotary exchange student, a lot of the chauffeuring has fallen to Lori Easterling, who helps part time with her husband's business.

"We treat him just like our son and Lori even bought him his own cell phone so she knows where he is all the time," Mark Easterling said.

Easterling tried to convince Luis about one difference in customs from Ecuador and the United States.

"I told him that here it is customary for exchange students to buy the host family a lot of expensive Christmas presents," he said. "But I don't think he believed me."

Luis' revealing glance indicated he knew Easterling was joking.

County Line editor Lamar Thames can be reached at 264-1360 or via e-mail at lthames@jacksonville.com.