"Si, bien, gracias"

So far, I am loving Spain. I mean, lovingggggg it. I have been kept so busy since I've come here. And I feel like every day I am understanding more and more, and learning at least 20 new words a day, probably more, but I forget some because I learn so many.

Okay, I 'll talk about yesterday , and I'll try to make it interesting(for you Madison;)) but I don't think I'll have to even try because it was so cool without any exaggerations at all.

Yesterday I woke up at about 10:30 and had desayuno on the terrace with Miguel and Angela. Breakfast in Spain is very light, usually only pan con prosciutto and a cafe con leche (my favorite). After breakfast, I went with Miguel into the actual town of Benissa. Every Saturday, Benissa has a market that sells anything form clothes to groceries. I only got to see a small part of it though, because it opens and closes very early and we went into town kind of late.

Miguel and I then went grocery shopping. After, he showed me the town's church ( la iglesia de purisima) and also the plaza (la plaza purisima). He also took me to a convent (convento) in town where nuns (monjas) live. It was very old and so beautiful. We went inside and I got to see the chapel and all the walls were hand painted.

After, we met up with Angela (who works in town as an architect) and I went with her to her mother's apartment int Benissa while Miguel shopped. Her mother was so cute, but hard to understand. I've found that whenever people talk to me I have only 3 responses "Si, bien, o gracias." Sometimes I'll throw in the occasional "Ohhhhhh...." to show interest. It's hard to completely understand what they are saying, even when they speak slow, although i am improving with each day.

For lunch, we had pizza that Miguel made. It had a very thin crust, and tuna (atún), mushrooms (championes) and squash (calabacín). It sounds weird, but it was actually good.

After lunch, they take a siesta, which is, for anyone that doesn't know, pretty much the

greatest thing ever created. It is basically, a nap. But right in the middle of the day after eating a

delicious meal. So pretty much, you get to stuff yourself then go to sleep fat and happy.

Then I went downstairs and watched T.V. with Angela. We watched M.T.V. in Spanish and it

was really amusing because they voiced over the English version and if you listened hard enough

you could hear it.

Then, at about 8, we drove 15mins away still in el campo (the countryside). We drove to the top

of a mountain to a little casita. It was so cute. The casita belongs to their friends and we joined them

and another couple for dinner.

Staying true to their culture, we ate tapas, which is a bunch of small plates the whole table shares.

Since I am in Spain, I decided to try everything. Soy una chica abierta. ( I am an open girl).

When in Rome.....right?

So... that means that I tried the grilled octopus. I like calamari so I figured it couldn't be much different

but I was mistaken. It was not very good to me. It tasted like if I had gone swimming, found an octopus,

and bitten into it raw. Bleh. However, they said it was a specialty in la Marina ( the ocean area where I

live) and everyone's faces where all so warm and likable that I pretended I enjoyed it because I didn't

want to hurt the host's feelings.

Next I tried some lettuce with avocado and salmon and caviar on it. I had always heard that caviar

was delicious...I don't know who I heard that from but they obviously don't have any taste buds. I didn't

like that very much either. It tasted pretty much like raw fish eggs....oh wait. hahaah

I also tried tuna con marmalada. (marmalade). That was not too bad, so I ate 2 of those to show

appreciation to the host.

Also, there were little oysters that were not terrible, so I had some of those too. And pan. Always

pan.

Then came the main dish...lamb with sauce and potatoes. Now I'm not a big fan of lamb, but it was

such a relief to me to be able to eat something that didn't taste so.....fishy. It was actually very good.

I deserve major props for being so brave in my diet. How's that for expanding my horizon's, mom?:)

Now before I came to Spain the Rotary Club warned us about different cultures, customs, and ways

of life, and that we had to be careful what we do because we do not know the manners of their culture.

During this dinner party, no one went to the bathroom. No one got up. So I figured that it must be considered

rude to get up during dinner. The only problem was, I had to pee so bad.

I didn't want to be rude so I was in excruciating agony until finally I couldn't take it any longer and

I took the opportunity, offensive or not, to go to the bathroom. They were more than willing to point out the

bathroom and didn't seem offended at all. Moral of the story, ask questions and you will learn by experience.

We stayed at their house until 12:30. It was so nice to see the relaxed culture of Spain. The people

are so warm and friendly, and no one is ever in a rush to get anywhere. It's a nice contrast to America.

Mi primero fiesta de cena en Espana? Muy bien.