First Weekend with Host Family

So, I met my family this past Friday night!  All of the students waited in the hotel, and one by one, nerviously of course, we met our families.  When I met my family and first saw the house, I was extremely happy!  I love it here with them.  My mom is Margarita, dad is Juan Carlos, and my little sister is Elena (17 yrs.).  We all get along really well!  They also have a pet turtle named Luna!! I love the turtle.

So far the communication is not an issue really.  I understand what they are saying, I just have trouble conveying what I want to say.  We all share common interests.  I appreciate the ability to understand differences and other cultures, and the family I am staying with really stresses this in their household.  We enjoy analyzing cultures and people together.  I am not too close with my "sister" yet, but I hope to be!  We get along well together, it's just that she has her own friends and stuff..

Hm, let me tell you a little about the food!  In the morning, it's typical to have toast with "cafe con leche" which is just coffee with milk.  Well, it's more like milk with coffee haha.  I just put a little milk though, and I definitely drink caffeinated coffee.. So breakfast is usually around 8 or 9 (except if you're still sleeping..), and it is a light meal.  "La comida" is lunch, and it is at 2 or 3, but a very big meal.  After la comida is my favorite part - la siesta (nap time!).  Anyway, la cena (dinner) is really late at like 9 or 10, because Spaniards don't start their nightly activities until much much later.

Today we had "mariscos" which is just seafood, but today it was specifically shrimp.  WHOLE shrimp where they had the heads, sand, and still smelled like the sea.  I liked it though.  Oh, my favorite thing by far was yesterday morning when I had breakfast.  Marga (short for Margarita) made me all natural orange juice!  She just juiced three or four oranges.  It was so good.  

Ok here is a little about Alcala de Henares.  This town is AMAZING.  So gorgeous.  I'm going to have to take hundreds of pictures just to capture its beauty and antiquity.  A little history lesson - Alcala de Henares is where Miguel de Cervantes lived.  He wrote Don Quixote.  So the biggest plaza here is called "Plaza de Cervantes".  

Something that is reeeaaally cool and weird are the birds here.  There are these huuuuge storks that nest on all of the old buildings and cathedrals.  They are so "awesome" (literally) because they build these big nests and when you first notice them perched on the buildings, they seem unreal.  Here is a picture I found on the internet of one - I've been to this same building, and the same nest is still there.

Anyway, tomorrow we register for classes!  I'm excited.  Then Tuesday after classes we are going to Madrid.  Oh also, they gave us a free pass for transportation!  Free for buses and the trains to Madrid!! Apparently the capital building has tons of levels and there are like 7 discotecas, one per level, all different.  All of the students definitely want to go there.  We all get along really well by the way!  I'm meeting awesome people, and there are more people to meet in my classes!

Alright, that's all.  By the way the video blog just takes too long.. So I'm just going to write random stuff like I did.  Love you aaaall.  Adios.