First impressions

Hello again! So I left off talking about my host family and now I have officially met them all! They are all adorable and definitely have their own personalities. Carmen, the 3 year old, is the drama queen of the group. She has thrown 2 tantrums so far and each has been quite entertaining. Hearing a 3 year old cry and yell in Spanish is unlike anything I've ever heard. One second she's perfectly happy and dancing around (which she does almost instinctively anytime she hears music) and the next second she's screaming and crying. Maria, the 9 year old, is definitely more composed. She's also been very helpful in answering the questions that Colleen and I don't want to ask Pilar, our host mom. She was so excited to show me everything she learned in school yesterday. She also gave me a huge tour of her room and all the toys los reyes brought her for christmas (Spanish people have the three kings instead of Santa Claus). Luis is the oldest (12) loves the NBA and is obsessed with Lebron James. He has already invited us to his basketball game next saturday. He plays point and his team is number one in his league. He is definitely the man of the house. Since his Dad, also named Luis (very confusing I know), works almost all the time, Luis is almost like the authority figure of the house. I'm discovering that family dynamics are very different in Spain than in America.

A picture Colleen took of Maria (she modeled for us too!). I'll try to take some of everyone else later!

Yesterday we ate lunch with our new siblings and then went to an orientation meeting that was essentially about drinking in Spain. We came back and had a delicious meal for dinner (chicken, home-made chips, and fried eggs from their dad's factory--the chicken had just hatched them 2 days before!). At night, a few girls met up with me and Colleen to go to this flamenco bar. It was very Spanish (I really think we were the only americans there) and quite fun! We each tried a chupita (shot), un cruzcampo (their favorite beer in Sevilla) and a tinto de verano (tasted just like my dad's grape lemonade). From their we went to a few different places and ended up getting home without getting lost or using a map! (Very impressive for us in a city with no street signs and many random side streets)

This morning we slept til 2 (still a little jetlagged) when Carmen came in to wake us up for lunch. We had potatoes with some sort of fish and bread (bread comes with every meal here). It was fantastic! After that Colleen and I went and explored for a while and then went to a meeting about classes at 6. We came back home for dinner at 8:30 and had tomatoes with meatballs and lays chips (slightly random combination but it was great!). Then our host parents went out to eat and to some bar. The kids still aren't in bed yet (it's just past 1 am) and Colleen and I are already almost asleep! (The timing of everything here is SO different) We have an excursion with the whole group tomorrow at 8:30 am to Cordoba so we need our rest! Will write more later!