Siesta (9/14/2010)
Lol JK I just woke up. (Aboout two hours ago but still.)
So let’s see. I have a lot to catch up on.
1) I went to “Fiesta en Rivas”. It’s this giant fair kind of thing. There’re tons of food, vendors, and each night it’s going on there’s a concert. The first night we went Alberto and I met up with some friends of his and we all went to the concert. It was really cool! Everyone was dancing a singing along and the one girl Carolina knew pretty much every word to every song. Alberto said that this group is really popular, but I forget the name. Lidia, the other girl we went to the concert with ended up asking me about the Bronx of New York, black people, and how I feel about Obama. I was a little surprised, seeing as she’s 16.
After the concert we found Paz and Tony again and all went to McDonalds. They were all shocked at how fast I ate the food, and there were many jokes made about how I was finally home. To answer everyone’s question…. Spanish McDonald’s tastes the same. The french fries aren’t as good though and they don’t have Sprite anywhere in this country I think. That’s a real bummer. The Fanta tastes weird too. Well… not weird, just not as sugar-y.
The next day we spent most of the afternoon hanging around the pool. My grandparents came over for lunch and we all ate outside on the deck table. It was a really slow day for Spanish, so instead of reading the English book I had next to me, I went searching for a Spanish book. I’m now reading Harry Potter in Spanish, and it’s actually helping. I ended up reading while the bottom half of my body was in the pool, and as each member of the family saw me they all cracked up. I guess I’m just the strange American hahah obviously I’m pretty okay with that.
Our lunch
After the Grandparents left (and after Paz cut Tony’s hair) we got ready to go out to Fiesta en Rivas again and after to go to La Noche en Blanco. At Fiestas we ate our dinner, watched flamenco (which was kind of amazing), watching people dancing salsa to the music playing out of one of the food booths, listened to Celtic music combined with 70’s funk, and finally watched the fireworks.
Spanish people do really good firework shows. This was actually amazing. And we were front row, right next to the fence. The whole fair stopped including all the music to watch, and I heard some of the people behind me making fun of everyone going “ohhh ahhhhh” and then a huge firework went off and they did it too.
After, we walked back to the car to go to La Noche en Blanco, this giiant new fiesta in Madrid where everything starts around 12:30 and finishes around 6 in the morning. There were SO many people. You can barely walk without bumping into someone.
We were mostly going just to show me and let me see Madrid up close. I think this year had an ecological theme so everything was made out of recycled materials. There were giant slides made out of pipes, giant tire swings, and these really strange looking tube things that I think if you yell into it you can hear someone elses voice coming out.
This is all in a dumpster filled with sand by the way..
By the time we walked through pretty much the whole fiesta, we were all tired enough that we needed to stop and get some water. We stopped at this cafe Rodilla (which literally means knee… and I’ve asked many times why and no one seems to want to tell me.) But apparently Rodilla is really popular and has really good food, or so says my translation of what people keep telling me.
When we finally got home I was so exhausted that I literally collapsed in my bed.
The next day was Sunday! Paella day! I helped make my first paella and did pretty well I think! Nothing burned, so that’s always good. Paella is this dish with Rice, meat and veggies. Ours is made with Chicken, squid, shrimp, clams, onion, and a buncha other stuff. It’s soo good.
This is the one I helped with! We made two since there were so many people here.
1. Fernando, Paz’s brother. 2. Margari, Fernando’s wife. 3. Patricia, Fernando and Margari’s daughter. 4. Tanti/ Francisco, Tony’s brother. 5. Ana, Tanti’s girlfriend. 6.Fernando Sr, my grandpa/Paz’s father. 7. Ines, my grandma/ Paz’s mom. 8. Paz of course. 9. Tony of course. 10. Alberto, My brother, duh. And 11 if you count me, which you kind of have to since I was sitting at the table too..
This table!
After Paella we all had desert which was amazing too. They were so cute and little!
Desert, with Tanti in the background.
After everyone was done eating, everyone broke off to do their own thing. A lot of people went to the pool, My grandpa and Margari stayed at the table to play cards, which I later found out was Poker. Funny how I can learn Poker in Spanish, but never managed to learn in English. After Patricia got pushed in the pool by Alberto and I quizzed Patricia on how many English verbs she knows (which is a lot) I taught her how to make friendship bracelets. I hope she remembers! Haha I only had like, two minutes to show her, but I gave her my example so she could finish it if she wants.
Yesterday was my first day home alone. Around 2, Paz came and we went to my school to finish my enrollment. Everything is all set up and I start school tomorrow at noon. The next day it starts at 9, and then after that I think 8? But I’m not really sure. I’m going to ask tomorrow. When we got home it was my job to cook lunch for Tony since Paz was going back to work. I ended up making a chicken filet and pasta with a tomato sauce and marinated tomatoes too. Mom you would be proud, it tasted pretty good! Tony said he liked it too, so that’s a plus.
At dinner time, we all ate outside and watched Las Chicas de Orro, or Golden girls. It’s really funny! I understood most of what they were saying too.
Today I haven’t been doing much, I’m home alone again and it’s around 1 here. I think I’m gonna go on a walk and see if I can find my school. If not my school, then at least kids. I want to meet people my age, but at the same time I’m nervous for school… even though my counselor at school said I won’t need a guide like I wanted because everryone will want to help me. We’ll see… it starts tomorrow so I’ll be writing soon!
Besos :]
