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Published: September 20th 2011
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Hello!
The last few days have been fairly uneventful, which can be a very good thing!
Last night Jerica and I went with Hayley to light a candle for her brother Brandon. It was really sweet because their host parents also wanted to come and show their support. Hayley and Jerica’s host dad is not Chinese, but he is very interested in their culture, so he did a Chinese ritual that they do in memory of their deceased. However, it was pretty windy on the beach; we kept trying to light the candle and it would only stay lit for a few seconds. Hayley finally said that it was fine and we headed back to the house.
Milagros and her husband are a very nice couple. She asked Hayley and Jerica why I was always at Chamara (my internet café) doing my homework and such and when the girls told her I didn’t have internet she told them I could come to their house if I wanted. As we said goodbye before I walked home Milagros said to me, “You know if you ever want to do your homework, or you need a quiet place, or you need the
Ruben
Our Spanish driving professor! internet you can of course come to our house! I should probably be asking the girls if it’s ok if you come over, but you know you are welcome anytime!”
This works out well because Jerica, Hayley and I want to get together to watch “The Office” when the new season starts, but I am not allowed to have guests over, and Jerica and Hayley weren’t sure what the custom is here…guess now we know!
Instead of just walking me home, Hayley wanted to give the candle one more go, so we walked to a nearby park near the ocean but a bit more sheltered from the wind. We lit the candle and Hayley told us a few stories about Brandon, then Jerica and I each said a prayer. We let the candle burn for a bit and then we just sat and talked for a while. It was really nice, but before we knew it it was nearly midnight so we headed home.
This morning I woke up, went for my run and ate breakfast. Yesterday morning Pepa had asked what we liked best for breakfast so that she doesn’t have to buy so much food and
she can know what we like. I told her that for breakfast I like the hard, pre-toasted bread that is a lot like the bread you use for Bruschetta (because it is wheat not white). So this morning I had the toasted bread for breakfast. However, there are about 6 hours between breakfast and lunch, so I like to eat a little snack between classes. Usually this is almonds or trail mix, but seeing as I am out of both and I have my humongous jar of peanut butter, I figured I would just make a half a sandwich. I went to the kitchen and I took a piece of bread, but I took the end piece that I know no one likes. Uhg, yet another “muffin moment.” Pepa saw me preparing my one slice of bread with the peanut butter. Apparently I am not allowed to use that bread unless I am missing a meal wither her and I need to make a sandwich, otherwise I am only supposed to use the pre-toasted bread, which is only for breakfast. She said all of her previous girls go buy their own food if there is something special they want or
they buy it at the school. While I know that it seems cheap to buy from the school, 3 or 4 euros everyday adds up, and I am here for a lot of days. So today I am going to make a trip to the “SuperSol” to get some wheat bread and such so that I can avoid using the wrong bread.
It’s really not a terribly big deal, I don’t really like white bread so going and getting wheat will be better for me anyways. Aside from that things are still going along well with the family. There are always going to be those awkward moments. However, Pepa does a good job of getting us to be open with the family. A week or so ago we were watching a snippet about Amy Winehouse on TV and I said I really like singing to her music. Pepa asked if I sang for my school. “No, no. I only sing around the house and in the shower. Haha!” Pepa LOVES music and she loves to sing around the house. She mentioned then that she would like to hear me sing, but I told them I suffer from stage fright
and we got on another subject and I figured they all forgot about it. Not so. Today at lunch Pepa was singing and I asked her if it was a famous song. No, she just made it up and was singing it. “But I still need to hear you sing Devin!”
“Oh, like Amy Winehouse?”
“Yes! I have been listening every time you are in the shower but I never hear you singing!”
“Oh, hahaha! Yes well I shower so early I don’t want to wake anyone up.”
“Well we are all awake now!”
So, I had to sing in front of them. Right there at the lunch table. Thankfully they liked it! Haha! Pepa said how Kiki, their previous student, was a very talented piano player and was always singing in the house and was a very good singer as well. She told me I was welcome, and should, sing around the house as well. Haha!
On another note, Sunday night Hayley and I got our first manual driving lesson from Ruben. Ruben is a guy who works at the internet café we all go to and Hayley and I really wanted to learn how to drive stick, so he said he would teach us! This was an interesting experience. I learned the words for neutral, gear, accelerate, let up, step on it, clutch and break very fast. (Posición muerta, marcha, acelera, suelta, pisa, embrague, and frena, in case you were wondering).
Ruben is a pretty good teacher though! We each drove for about a half-an-hour and by the end we were driving pretty well and I only killed it three times! Haha! Hayley and I both agree driving stick is WAY more fun than automatic. I didn’t remember that I even had my camera until my turn was over, so I just have pictures of Hayley driving, but when we take our next lesson I will try and get some to show off my European driving skills! 😊
Ruben took us to Puerto de San Felipe which is where the fewest people are, so we didn’t need to be nervous cause we couldn’t hit anything; and besides, driving stick is “muy muy facil” (very very easy). It is easier than I thought; at least I did better than the time Heather tried to teach me, ha! Guess a few more years behind the wheel probably helped. But my next car is definitely going to be stick!
I suppose that’s really all I have to say for now!
I miss and love everyone!
Love always,
Devin 😊
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