La Familia

This is a picture of the view from my bedroom window. When it is less cloudy, you can see more mountains to the right. I really enjoy la vista when I need a moment to stare into space and figure out what is going on.

The family life has been very different, but good. I don´t have a picture of the family yet, but as soon as I do, it will be posted. It is true, I have 5 brothers and sisters: Maribel, 24; Christina, 20; Jesús, 16; Antonio, 13; and Pablo, 11. My señora´s name is Francisca, but I call her Paqui. I get a long with everyone really well, but then again I usually have no idea what is going on. My comprehension has improved, but when everyone is talking at once really fast, forget about it. Paqui is really great and always is asking me if I am happy with everything. She has different kinds of fruit all of the time and it’s great. Thus far I like all of the food that she has cooked. Sometimes I am not sure exactly what kind of meat I am eating, but it is always good. Ham is obviously popular. I always say, “Jamón es el rey de España.” (Ham is the king of Spain). Paqui basically will buy any food that I like, which is comforting. I told Paqui that I like hot sauce and she bought me some Tabasco which is great on tortilla española (a Spanish omelette with potatoes and onions) I have been travelling a lot on the weekends so I have not been out with mis hermanas yet, but I am finally going to be in Granada this weekend so I plan on going out with Christina. It will be an interesting because sometimes I am not good at understanding, but it will be a good learning experience.

My youngest brother, Pablo, is quite interesting. The first few days that I was here there was a lot of staring. Like for example, I was resting in my bed and he just came into my room and stared at me for a while. The staring has been taken down a notch, but it still happens. My bedroom door (I do have my own room) does not lock and he likes to bust in unannounced sometimes, he has almost seen me naked. Although I know he has seen boobs because they are all over Spain. All of the gossip magazines have pictures of boobs, sometimes on the cover, and there is porn on the public access television. And by the way, it is not soft-core. I have yet to encounter it, but I have heard from many that it is the real deal.

En todo, I am really enjoying my living situation. The one downfall is I live about 50 minutes from school and the heart of Granada. At first I had a problem with this, but I am over it. Depending on the day, I sometimes walk 7 or more miles. Now, I think it is worth it because I really like la familia. Although, there have been some late night angry walks home.