FAMILY MATTERS

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September 8th, 2011
Just to clear up something from my last post for people who didn’t get the joke (cough cough Blake Morton) my roommate and I don’t really make up crazy cockroach dances, that was just my way of telling everyone that we have had a few cockroach encounters since we have been here.

Today school seemed to drag on. I really like our teacher, Roberto, because he is great at explaining tough concepts. Today, Hayley and I sat with international students from Germany and Italy between us so we could get to know people from other countries. They came to the beach with us after class, and it is really great talking to them because we don’t have the option of defaulting to English during the conversation. They speak Spanish on the same level as we do and it is really good and a more relaxed practice for us. After we went to the beach with our new foreign friends, we went to La Plaza de Flores to buy flowers for Milagros because today was her saint’s birthday. In Spain, if you are named after a saint (which most people are) they celebrate the birthday of their saint as if it was their own birthday. Milagros said that she doesn’t even know the actual birthday of some of her relatives, but she knows all off their saint’s birthday. Her entire family gave her gifts, I think she liked her flowers a lot! The eggplant dish she made tonight was very good. The communication was getting a little better, but it is easy to get discouraged. I am going to just keep trying though. She told us they celebrate Halloween here and that you are only allowed to wear scary costumes, which is fascinating. I think I am going to get fat from eating so much… the portions are huge! I will just have to start politely telling her that I am full or to make me less food. I love living with this family… they really are amazing and make me feel at home. We had gazpacho today, which is an Andalucian traditional food. It is a pureed down vegetable soup that you serve cold.

Ps. I’m glad the Spaniards have sense of humor, I was just thinking about how I cracked a joke my first night here with Milagros, her husband and Rosillo (Milagros’ best friend) when they asked if I was a psych major. I told them that I was here to write about about their family and I wish I would have been able to take a picture of their reaction. They all looked paranoid! I finally explained to them that I was kidding and they laughed and laughed and thought it was a chiste (joke). It was a good way to get comfortable with the family fast.

September 9th, 2011
Today was a long day at school. There is no air conditioning and by noon I feel like I’m going to pass out from the heat. After school Hayley and I went to the beach to meet up with our family for lunch and to work on our tan so we can blend in! It is really fun, because all of our friends come and hang out with our family at the beach, which made me feel like I was at home, except instead of a pool there was the sea and instead of alcohol there was coffee. Still the same amount of nudity! When I was laying out, I just happened to open my eyes and see a guy in his late 20s walking by in—wait for it—AN OKC THUNDER JERSEY! I started bouncing up and down and in English I was telling Hayley why I was so excited and I’m sure my host family thought I was a little crazy at that moment. Unfortunately, in all of my excitement I didn’t see where the man went and he must have taken the jersey off because I didn’t see it again. It truly is a small world!

After the beach we had our first fun little adventure at the post office. Hayley got a letter saying she had a package… in Madrid. Even though her parents paid to have it sent her, something went wrong and now she has to fill out forms and find a place to fax them since the post office won’t fax them for her. When we got home, I plugged the blow dryer in to the converter/ adapter and the lights went out! I was afraid it was my fault, but Milagros said that it happens all the time so that made me feel better. Hayley and I met up with the rest of “team Cadiz” after dinner at 11 to have some wine to celebrate our survival of the first week of class.
One thing that I will say before I go is that I would not have been able to enjoy my trip as much as I have without the suppose of my friends and family, both here in Cadiz and back at home. I have a wonderful and supportive boyfriend back home, who constantly reminds me to live it up while I am here. I appreciate all of you and your support means the world to me. We have a lot planned for Sunday, so I will probably update my blog again on Monday morning or Sunday night! Hasta luego!

Jerica

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Photos

Celebrate!
Tinto de verano to celebrate the first week of class being over!