Presa Iberica

I feel the need to write one more post before my big adventure to Italy which begins on Saturday (2 days from now!) when I leave for Seville to stay the night before my flight at 6:30am. First off, I am so excited to see my mom again that I get jittery every time I think about it, and spending a week exploring Italy with her and my grandma is going to be absolutely amazing! I'm pretty sure that if it weren't for me living in Spain, this type of vacation wouldn't have happened for the three of us so I am just so thankful that I have this opportunity.

It seems that Spain doesn't have four seasons, but two. It took about one week for the weather to turn from cold and wearing sweaters to quite warm and wearing tank-tops. And I know from here on out it's just going to get hotter, and I'm happy that I'm leaving in June before the REAL hell hits in July and August, where they say that it's almost impossible to leave your house, it's so hot. Our first very nice day was last Friday... Magda and I went over to Roberts apartment to firstly use his oven to make crepes for all of us, and also to enjoy his wonderful balcony. I looked around the apartment at one point and was amused at the fact that I was spending the day in an apartment with one American girl, one Polish girl, one Irish guy and one French guy. It was so diverse but we were having an excellent time, drinking tinto de verano, sitting out on the balcony soaking up the sun, and eventually eating the crepes Magda so nicely made us. Tomorrow I think we're going to head over again to use his oven and make a chocolate cake (Magda just got the recipe from her mom). I've really enjoyed staying in Priego for the past month and getting to spend time with these great people. But from here on out, I am busy every weekend! First Italy, and then Laurie and Lisa come to visit me and we're going to explore Almeria, and then the next weekend Granada, and then after that I'm going to Nerja (a town on the coast) with one of my American friends here in Priego, and then Julie comes and we're going to Granada and then traveling to Barcelona and Lisbon, and then we spend one Saturday night in Priego while I pack and have some sort of goodbye party, and then I go home! I have a feeling its going to go very fast from here on out, but I'm excited for every bit of it.

This week went surprisingly fast... I finished up one of my private classes because the students I was having class with have their exam next week and then my services are no longer needed. My other classes are continuing though, and I'm planning to have my four 9-year-olds perform Little Red Riding Hood first for Laurie and Lisa, and then for Julie when she comes. They are super excited about it and I think it will be good practice for them, reading and pronouncing English words while acting out a play. Today after class their moms were in the kitchen and they invited me to stay for a cup of coffee... I love feeling a part of this community. Last week I was walking through the town at the hour where EVERYONE likes to "dar un paseo," which means that people take a walk through the main street of town just to see if anyone they know is out so that they can stop and talk. And I ended up seeing a ton of people that I knew, including one of my students, a couple people from my conversation class, and three out of my four nine-year-olds. I was walking across the plaza of the city hall where there were many people sitting having a drink at the tables, and the kids were playing soccer or just messing around like normal, when suddenly I spotted my girls and they saw me and started squealing and ran over to me and gave me a hug and started talking to me in Spanish and were generally very excited. It was so sweet, and it felt really nice to be able to walk around this town and recognize some people and actually be able to stop and talk to others. I love feeling like a part of this community, and I really wish that this kind of thing would happen more in Oregon... but oh well. I'm just glad that it's at least happened here.

And finally, I would like to end today with a story about the dinner I had tonight. Magda and I returned to the place where we found some AMAZING steak, and ordered it again... it did not disappoint us! We were happily eating our salad, presa iberica (the steak), and our french fries, when suddenly we realized that we were both very full, and we still had about a third of our steak on each of our plates. This would not be a problem in the US... we would simply have to ask for a to-go box, and then be on our way. But not in Spain. People don't take food home in Spain. If you don't finish your food, you leave it there. And being an American, I was shocked at this. ("WHAT?! You don't take home your extra food?! What a waste of money!") But in Spain it's just not done. But we were so full that all Magda could say was, "Whoa" on repeat, and I was wishing I could have fit a pair of sweatpants in my bag (I kept thinking about Joey on Friends when he had to eat that whole Thanksgiving turkey... he kept saying in my head, "Why am I wearing JEANS? I need my sweatpants! Stupid!" and "I'm getting the meat sweats" as he dabbed his forehead with his napkin). And we began talking to our steaks saying things like, "Don't worry steak" and "I won't leave you here alone." So I had Magda look out for the waiter, and when she said he wasn't looking, we quickly put our leftover steaks on our napkins and wrapped them up safely and put them in our purses. And oddly I feel proud that I can now say, "I've had a steak in my purse." So then we quickly paid for our meal and went the 30 feet back to our apartment and laughed as we told our Spanish roommate Maria what we had done, who then relayed it to her mother with whom she was talking to on the phone at the time. But we were proud of ourselves for saving our PRECIOUS steaks and being able to enjoy them at a later date.

Anyways, I hope you all are doing well! I will be back in the US in two months from yesterday! Mostly I'm excited but I have many adventures to look forward to until then. :)