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Greetings, fellow sponsors.   I was just wondering how much we can inquire about the customs, spirituality, and festivities of our respective sponsored children and their families and communities when we correspond with them.  I was stationed with the US Army in Afghanistan back in 2008 and was able to fully immerse myself in the culture of the Afghanis.  When I went to teach in India years later in 2015, I was in a rural area in South India working at an all-girls Catholic school.  When I was there, I was able to attend so many Hindu temples and become a part of the local color.  It was a wonderful time in my life in which I received so many revelations about myself!  Therefore, I am very much for the exchange of local color and support multi-culturalism.  I was just wondering how we may respectfully inquire of our beloved sponsored children about the customs and culture of their country/region/district/family.  How does one gpo about doing this without being overbearing and whilst still maintaining respect?  In turn - how is a sponsor to describe the local color of the place that they live (religion/spirituality, weather, holidays/festivities/ family life, etc.)?  I am an English teacher here and NYC, and I know that I should be an expert with words (shouldn't I?).  However, I just wanted to put this out there to gain some feedback from other sponsors before I write my first letter to my sponsored girl Sandy Isolbel in Ecuador.  Any advice or feedback will be appreciated!  Thanks!

Greetings to you! It was great reading your bio. I'm sure you will find the CI international program very rewarding. My advice is getting to know each other gradually.
For example, before committing to my latest sponsorship in Kolkata I did some research. I learned two subcultures of Bengalis – Bangals and Ghotis. They are pride of their origins and color, so you may think okay to ask the question direct of your child's background, but then I resisted thinking might not be appropriate to differentiate by hereditary classes of Hindu society. I also knew their favourite football clubs – East Bengal (Bangals) and Mohun Bagan (Ghotis) and respective cuisines – Hilsa (fish) for Bangals and Chingri (prawn) for Ghotis.
So to try and guess the root, asked her favourite team and cuisine instead (in my first letter). Hope you get what I mean.