So…what it’s like living with a host family:
I keep seeming to commit cultural errors in this respect, but I think I’m getting better at it. One day I was late for both lunch AND dinner, and my host mum was NOT pleased. In Spain , eating is very much a social activity—the idea of doing it by yourself is odious. About 2pm, all the stores are closed, because families all come together to eat lunch. Sometimes this includes grandkids, too! (which I love, because then I get to play with Curro and Jose, Encarna’s grandkids.) Helping out with cleaning up, or cooking, where it would be welcome at home, would probably insult my host mum. One day she came in my room and made it all tidy, and seemed very proud of herself. (I’ll admit….that’s a pretty nifty skill. Still, it was sort of weird.) And just the other day during lunch somehow the topic of messiness came up, and she insisted we all come over to see how messy my room was. (During which process, I accidentally locked the bathroom door from the outside, to prevent the other students from seeing what my only being half awake in the morning does to the bathroom counter. Since when do doors do that?? Luckily host pop somehow fidgeted with the knob and it’s open now. )
In spite of all the cultural errors I make (and I know I’m making them because Encarna points them out), Encarna seems to like me anyway. She’s told the other girls, " you need to talk more, ask more questions, like Kathleen, she speaks Spanish really well!" and "REMEMBER TO WEAR SUNSCREEN" …and stuff like that. (just a warning: I’m practically orange from the sun now….)
One day Curro (a CUTE three-year old who I thought was five, but no, he’s three) was over for lunch, and we ran up and down the stairs and pretended we were monkeys. SOOO CUTE. "Hello! Where are you? Hm…where did Curro go? He just went up and disappeared…" SOOOO CUTE..Anywho…(I could probably go on for a while about how completely adorable this kid is, but I don’t have any pictures of him yet, so that might be a wee bit of torture ^^;;; ) After lunch, we were playing with some of the unfamiliar things I have in my room (mp3 player...nalgene…glasses case…) and he took my glasses and sort of hid them somewhere. I reached to put them back on and he said "No! you’re prettier without them!!" …and what does one say to that? So I had fuzzy vision for about an hour. (aha! So THAT’S why Europeans have a reputation for being charmers—they start when they’re young!!)
One day we went to visit the famous cathedral of Granada , which has a sacristy that holds the long-dead bodies of Isabel and Ferdinand, the catholic king and queen that conquered remote parts of Spain (including Granada ) and gave Christopher Columbus the A.O.K on finding a shortcut to India . I was a little reticent about "how cool it might be" because my general opinion is that once you’ve seen one European cathedral, you’ve seen them all. (After seeing the cathedrals in Italy , the Vatican city , Austria and Hungary —and all the disgusting hordes of gold each one carried—I developed an allergy to Cathedrals. ) To my surprise, this cathedral was different. Okay, yes, there was some gold on the walls, and a statue commemorating the "saint" Miguel " Matamoros " (which means "Muslim killer"…I swear, whatever happened to "love your neighbor as I have loved you?" bah. ) ….But, on the whole, I rather liked this cathedral. Aside from being dedicated to Mary, this cathedral is also called "the cathedral of light". Everything inside was painted white. Rather than having been built in the "holier than thou" gothic style, the architecture was to reflect being open to new ideas and accepting the good side of human nature. Also, instead of the tried-and-true paintings of the Stations of the Cross, there were paintings from MARY’S life--including her days in the synagogue—admitting that, yes, Jesus WAS Jewish. (Most ancient cathedrals seem to try to deny this.)
And …The ALHAMBRA !!! …um…so, I really can’t do it justice with words.
…Other than that, I’ve visited a Teterilla (Arabic tea house…I’m in love) and saw a Flamenco show in a restaurant that was built in a cave. SOO NIFTY!! I may need to learn how to flamenco. I’ve also gone to a salsa club, but I think flamenco’s better. Sooo cool…..anywho….