The Purpose (because as my mother always said, everything should have a purpose)

Now that our adventure to Latitude 000 is complete, I thought I would start blogging about my life as a young US expat abroad. This is not the first time I have lived abroad, but this is the most permanent move abroad I have made.

I am 27 and originally from the Seattle area. My husband is 31 and is from Ecuador. We were married a little over 6 years ago on April 24, 2004 in Cuenca, Ecuador, the city we now call home. We are expecting our first baby in September (holding steady with a due date of the 19th) and we are the proud owners of El Nomad Immersion Programs, a company which brings students and small groups from around the world to study Spanish, Latin American culture, and other specialized topics in Ecuador (http://www.elnomad.com).

After finding out we were pregnant with our first we decided to move to Ecuador so we could have the opportunity to raise our own child and not send her to daycare. Plus, the business is going well and it's best for us to be here on-site. When the decision was final I started researching what it's like to, as an expat, have a baby in another country. I found nothing on Latin America and nothing about being young and living life in a country that's not your own, so I decided it was time to start writing! I would be lying if I were to say this is an easy move for me. I have to learn an entire new system for my life, let alone for hospitals, doctors, medical terms in a second language, etc. But just because something is difficult doesn't mean it's not the right decision.

I hope you enjoy the story of me and my family and I hope to upload our To Latitude 000 blog as well so you can read about the adventures we had on the way down here.

Love from the Familia Garate.