Getting to know us

Since you will be going through this journey with us we feel it is important to introduce our family and get to know us a little better.

Mario

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Mario is from Ecuador.  He came to the United states in July of 2005 to further his career and learn English. His family still lives in Ecuador, but they see each other once in a while.  Mario speaks Spanish, English, French and Italian.  Right now he is going to school, majoring in French and pre-med and planning to continue on to med-school as soon as he graduates.  He works at the Alta View hospital, loves soccer, traveling, politics, and learning.

Megan

Hoover Dam, Nevada

Megan was born in California but really grew up in Washington state. Her family lives all over the US but she sees them often. She moved to Utah to go to school and that is where she met Mario and a year or so later they got married.  She majored in cultural anthropology which is where her love of cultures really blossomed and expanded.  She has a masters in Psychology and works as an academic counselor helping students get through their own schooling programs.  Megan speaks a little Spanish and that's it (besides English).  She loves music, Disney, photography and to travel.

Kaya

Kaya Kalet is the older sister (by one minute) to Shia.  She is one years old and is a very happy child.  She likes to laugh and be teased and is very protective of her brother.  Kaya is named after the Bob Marley song "Kaya" and that is truly her favorite song.  Kaya the name means oldest sister, which is appropriate.   Her middle name, Kalet (Ka-lay), is French and means beautiful energy which describes her perfectly.

Shia

Shia Scott is the younger brother to Kaya and I think he is ok with that.  He is either smiling or crying and loves to throw things.  He is also one years old and already a deep thinker.  He examines everything new very carefully trying to figure out how it works.  Shia's name means: "give thanks to God" and is Arabic.  Our last name is also Arabic because Mario's ancestors came from Lebanon and we wanted to honer that culture.   Shia's middle name is Scott, he is named after Megan's dad and seems to have a similar personality to him, so it fits!

Before they ever met both Mario and Megan did some traveling.  Mario traveled to Argentina, Chili and Columbia as well as several times to the US.

Megan traveled to Venezuela, Mexico and Canada and of course all over the US.

Margarita Island, Venezuela

With their shared love of travel after they were married Mario and Megan made it a goal to travel as often as possible.  Besides visiting 13 states together (including Alaska) they have gone to Canada, Ecuador, France, Italy and England.

The Yukon

British Museum, London

Trevi fountain, Rome

Mt Rushmore, South Dakota

In addition to traveling to new cultures, Megan and Mario have participated in events to promote and share cultures.  While Megan was attending Brigham Young University she participated twice in the BYU fiesta, a dance presentation of Latin American countries.  The first year she danced for Panama and the second for Cuba with Mario as her partner.

representing Panama

Representing Cuba

Megan and Mario also participated in the Mr and Ms. International UVU with Mario's sister who was representing Ecuador.

Representing the 4 regions of Ecuador: Galapagos, highland, jungle and coast

As you can see even before this project started Mario and Megan have also had a desire to learn about different cultures.  It was from this love of traveling and experiencing new cultures that they decided to incorporate that even more in their own lives and try to experience cultures in their own diverse city.  It is a goal not only to pursue this endeavor in and around Salt Lake, but to also travel often with their children so they can experience these cultures first hand.