My Family (And My Spanish Date)

I feel like I constantly have so much to share, but so little time and space to share it in!

I have thus far neglected to elaborate on a very important part of my life in Spain: my host family.

I live with a family of four (a family of five for the time being!) consisting of two lovely daughters -Saioa of 8 and Janire of 15- and parents. My host mom´s name is Idoia, but I call her Amaxtu (pronounced "amachoo"), which is a Basque endearment for mother. My host dad´s name is Piri. They are newcomers to Alicante, having lived here for only the past 8 months. Before, they lived in the País Vasco which I am pretty sure translates to Basque (a community of provinces in the north of Spain). Yes, this does mean that they have a funny accent compared to everyone else here! But it doesn´t make any difference to me! I can understand most everything that is said to me, minus select terms, regardless of the accent. I even have a Portuguese friend who speaks half in Portuguese and half in Spanish; I can´t tell when he switches! It is very interesting to have my brain in a place where I am so used to absorbing new terms that a variety of accents and languages can all mesh together into one soup of understanding.

But I digress! I share a room with my host sister Janire, which works out well. We go to the same school by tram every day and that gives us plenty of time to bond. She is a lovely, goofy girl who loves fashion, her friends, her sister (even though they have frequent verbal sparring!), laughing, and getting up in the morning "to take in the sun and be content." I enjoy her presence greatly. Her younger sister, Saioa, is a boistrous little thing who loves patinando (roller-skating) and learning hip-hop dance off of tutorial videos. She is an active child who seeks attention, but is very loving. For the first week, I had to concentrate very hard to understand her chatter. I´ve relaxed into it now, but I still have to ask her to slow down sometimes! Piri, my host dad, is an athletic man who goes running every day, works in the civil guard, and loves to make jokes. The jokes are good...when I can understand them! jk. He taught me how to play paddle, which is like tennis with a different variety of ball and racket and where you play bouncing the ball off of the walls as well as the ground. Idoia is the classic Spanish mother, with her constant caressing and concern over my food intake. She loves playing dominoes and hardly seems to sleep during the week as she stays on the computer playing dominoes electronically with her friends untill all hours of the night! She is a good cook and a very open communicator; she and I have had many frank and open conversations over the weeks, which have proven essential to my survival in this world of unestablished expectations. She and I played dominoes a week ago and she taught me how to make the Spanish tortilla today! This consists of frying potatoe and egg together into something akin to an omlet -only better! I guarantee you that, whoever you are, you will like this traditional Spanish dish. Spanish tortillas on me this July! Bring a plate and you will be served!

Evan, this entry was inspired by you.

As for everyone else, please let me know where your curiosity lays. I have so much to share, but I have to select the focus of my entries carefully since I can´t be on the computer all day writing out eveything! I can tell you more about my day-to-day activities, my school, my friends, general cultural trends, Spanish politics and history, or anything! Let me know what interest you most and that I will deliver!

Ok, here you go MJ: My first date with a Spanish guy. (And probably the second date of my life): He´s not my type, but he´s a nice guy! We had a nice time walking up and down the street along the beach before sitting at a cafe for a Fanta and tapas (a Spanish tradition of serving a little something foodwise with the drinks: potatoe with a garlic sauce called aleoli in this case). He smokes and enjoys beer (which is ok since he´s of age: 19), but he also likes politics and hearing about my life and experiences. He loves his car, which is all decked out, and he is working in road construction right now. He does not like studying, so he stopped school after the 4th Eso, which is our equivalent of 10th grade. This is not necessarily bad since required highschool ends there; 11th and 12th gade (1 and 2 Bachillerato) are optional. He bought me a drink and tapas, behaved gentlemanly, and generally seems to be a very nice person. Good for him. As I said; not my type.

Well, I hope that satisfys your curiosity, MJ!

Just to let everyone know, today was practically a perfect day! I slept until 9:30am before biking to my climber friend´s house (Ignacio) where I spent several hours climbing blisfully, albeit alone, with just me, the music, and the holds on the wall. Well, to be honest, there was a little dancing interspersedly! After biking back home, I showered and had a nice lunch of puree of lentil soup and bread. This was followed shortly by a switch into bathing suit, skirt, and sunblcok for a few hours on the sand. I bonded with my watercolors during this time and was even visited by a few curious young men who inquired into my art, flattered me by saying I could make a living off of my art, and shared a little bit of their lives with me -all in less than 5 minutes, of course! Then came the date. But anyways, I have to go!

Love to everyone!

-Jocelyn

(PS Did you know that there is a lunar eclipse tonight?!)

PPS Yes, those are my host sisters in the photo!