El Super!

On Monday was my first official day of work. Julian doesn't leave for work until about 1pm so I was able to sleep in as late as I wanted to. I woke up at about 10:30, dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast. I made myself some hot colacao and that sufficed.
          Then, I played with Cayetana for a while.  She has a little cart that's called a carillo (car-ee-yo). I sat her inside it and rolled all around her princess playroom. Since I've been here I hadn't heard her laugh as much as she was when I was carting her around in her carillo. She especially liked it when I went really quickly from the hard floor, over the carpet and pretend like I'm about to crash her into the wall. That threw her into the cutest little fits of laughter. Like one of those youtube videos you get when searching "babies laughing." The chuckle of a baby is one of the best noises in the world! Next to Justin Timberlake's falsetto. Just Kidding... Sort of.
           Anyway, after we had had enough of carts and giggles, Julian showed me where her stroller was so I took her for a walk up and down the street. I'm almost positive that we only have 2 neighbors on our street. And they each live about 3 or 4 houses down in opposite directions. And one just moved in like, this week. So, it was a very quiet walk. Cayetana fell asleep after about 15 minutes, but when I went to transport her inside, alas, she woke up. Which is really sad because she wouldn't go back to sleep and I was afraid that she would start yelling some more, which she did. But only a little because I put her in her cart to keep her distracted. It worked.
              Then, her mom came home about a half an hour after our walk and she fed Cayetana. We ate really yummy spaghetti with tuna in it. Which, normally, at the mention of tuna in spaghetti I would turn my nose up, but in Spain, I taste everything and I enjoy pretty much all of it. That's an understatement. I LOVE the food. In fact, I feel like this will be more of a food blog than anything else.

             Afterward, we went downstairs and watched TV a little, but mostly I just played with Caye while Mayra was on the ordenador aka computer. While we were playing I was helping Cayetana walk and I was wearing a necklace (My gold sand-dollar-esque one.) And she was so intrigued by it that she didn't realize I had taken away my hands and she took a step without any help! Her mom was so happy. She told everyone we saw that day and the next day all about it.
            Not long after Caye's walking lessons, we went out to the Supermercado. It was a little different than the ones we have in the US because the sold clothes there, as well as food. Kind of like Costco. But minus the bulk. And minus the free samples.

           We went over to the meat section and I saw a ton of giant, freaking, giant pig legs hanging on a wall. Hoofs and all! EW! While we were waiting in line to buy meat she asked me if I have pajamas because I don't wear them like her family. So, she then took me over to the pajama section and chose a pair of Daisy Duck pj's. And then found slippers to match.
              Did I already mention their obsession with pajamas and all things Disney? Obsessed is an understatement.
               After we went home and Mayra put Cayetana to bed we sat downstairs and watched TV and looked at magazines. I've always wanted to get a Spanish vogue! But it was actually Elle. Anyway, I read an article about Justin Timberlake and it quoted him, in Spanish, and my first thought was, "I didn't know he knows Spanish." And that's when I realized it was probably just translated. Duh.
               I honestly don't remember what we ate for dinner that night, I just know whatever it was, it was really good. And for dessert we ate flan. We have little puddings in cups that you keep in the fridge in the US; well, they have little flans that you can buy. There are so many different flavors: Chocolate, cheese (like cream cheese I think) honey, etc.... I ate a chocolate one; it was so good because the weird liquidy stuff at the bottom was chocolate so it wasn't so weird.
              Then, I went upstairs, with every intention of going to bed. Although, I ended up online talking to people and then I just couldn't sleep. I blame it on the lag. So, I slept for a total of three hours and decided it was better to just stay awake rather than try to sleep anymore. I only had the one day of random jet-lag relapse and since, my sleep schedule has resumed to being normal.

   More photos to come... I'll try to get better at taking pics!
                                      Besos! <3

El Primer Día

I arrived on Saturday and didn't wake up until 10:30 on Sunday morning. I dressed, brushed my teeth and went downstairs and found the family all in the kitchen. I had colacao (chocolate milk) heated in the microwave. And then after Mayra cleaned the kitchen (which the whole house is already always clean.) we went to Cuenca, We live in Las Arcas, which is just outside of Cuenca. But it's basically part of Cuenca how I understand it.

Inside Ibana's store

         In the city, I stayed in the car with Cayetana while Mayra went into a small store and bought a loaf of pan.Mayra drove by a store with baby clothes in the window and told me it is her sister, Ibana's store. Next, on our way home, she drove passed some apartments right near the center of the city and said that she used to love there before she bought her house in las Arcas.

Ibana and Carol at Ibana's store

         Then, we went home for just a while and ate a small snack before we went out to Ibana's house for lunch. Ibana has a daughter, Carol, who is eight years old and a son, Juan, who is only one. Her husbands name is also Juan. Mayra's mom and dad were also eating lunch with us. I honestly have no idea what I ate, but it was very tasty. It looked like really runny refried beans, but it didn't taste like it. We ate it with pan (they eat pan with everything) and ham and pulpo. Pulpo is, as I learned on Sunday, Octopus. I only tried a small piece or two. It wasn't too bad! But I do like most seafood.
          For the most part, I just sat and observed and listened to them talk amongst themselves. Occasionally Juan (the adult Juan) or the abuelo, would ask me a question. They would make little jokes about english like saying "Hello," but they would over-emphasize the 'H.' They also tried to say octopus. "Oak-toe-poose" They seem to think that Pres. Obama is my neighbor. I tried to explain that I don't live anywhere near Washington DC. It was hopeless. I don't think they have any idea how big the USA is.
         After lunch we went home, watched a little TV and ate a small snack again. They eat, like, 5 times a day. I like it because it helps keep me full so that I don't go all day without eating and then binge. I have a problem with that. So, here, I just eat a little at a time.

         They eat dinner really late; on Sunday, it was almost nine before we had dinner. Julian was still at work so we started without him. I watched as Mayra made tortilla española, which is absolutely nothing like a tortilla.

          First, she cut potatoes in small slices and fried them in oil. Then, she mixed it with and egg and some onion and salt and maybe some other spices. She fried the mixture almost like a really really think omelet. But not really. She used a plate to flip it over, pouring the uncooked ingredients into the pan, and laid the cooked portion back in the pan. It was soooo good. She also made a piece of chicken for me but I couldn't eat everything. So I only ate a little chicken. I didn't take a picture of the tortilla de patatas, so I googled one. FYI.

          Not much else happened on Sunday, except, before bed I set up my Gmail account so that I can send SMS messages to people's cell phones in the States, FOR FREE! It was good to talk to my family and friends. I went to bed late but slept well.
          It was a good Sunday, I just wish I could have gone to church. Hopefully, I'll be able to go soon.

Words I learned: costillas (ribs) tragar (to swallow) Bocadilla (a small bite)
Some of the words I put on here I knew a long time ago, so, I'm putting them here again so that I won't forget them again. It helps me remember if I write things down.

Besos! Chau!

Safe and Sound in Spain

On my last day of work my coworkers took me out to dinner. My boss was so nice; he bought me dinner. Anyway, he asked me if I was afraid of being trafficked. Until that point, I hadn't even thought of that. Afterward, that's all I could think about. I was so nervous. I started doubting my decision to go to Spain. Why do I come up will such stupid ideas. One time, I actually looked in to a vacation to Antarctica. And I was totally serious. I do really dumb things impulsively.
      Finally, the day came that I had to leave to Seattle. I had so many plans to pack and clean the house and prepare to leave. Instead, Rebekah, Alicia and I took a really long nap. Then Rebekah and I bought hot chocolate and sat in the car for almost an hour. It was a less than mildly productive day. After Alicia finished school, it was time to depart. I was more scared than ever.
      Alicia and Rebekah drove up to Ellensburg to stay the night with Megan so she could make the drive to the airport with us. We didn't get much sleep at all. I think only 4 hours. I slept really well because I was so tired, and Megan tucked us all in and gave us goodnight kisses. I'm sure that helped me sleep better.
       In the morning we all ate Megan's cupcakes for breakfast. I really don't remember a lot about the drive up. I was too nervous and emotional; so, I must have blocked it from my memory.
       We finally arrived to the airport and I forgot to give everyone a hug goodbye before I entered the line for Security. So we said goodbye from a slight distance. I was really sad to leave them but I was also in disbelief that it was even real.
        Everything went fine in all the airports. I made my connections without any problems. On my flight from Seattle to LAX the man next to me said, "That's very brave." when I told him why I was travelling to Spain.
        Then I flew from there to London on Air New Zealand. It was a really, really, really, big, nice, fancy plane. And I sat in the aisle with an empty seat to my right. It was really comfortable. The food wasn't terrible and I watched 3 movies in Spanish on the screen that was on the back of the seat in front of me. It also had the option to listen to music and play games, which was good because my ipod broke in the LAX airport. I only slept for a coulple of hours before we arrived in London.
         Everyone in the Heathrow airport was super friendly. Maybe it was just their accents but they seemed very nice. I then had to take a shuttle bus to my terminal after which I had about an hour until my gate opened. So, I sat outside of my gate and read in Spanish.
         Absolutely nothing happened on the flight from London to Madrid. I basically just sat in silence. And I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. I said a little prayer and that seemed to calm my nerves. I also read a little of my Libro de Mormon. The view from above was absolutely gorgeous!

         Finally I landed. I was a little unsure of where to get my baggage but finally I discovered that I needed to first go through passport control and then take a train to baggage claim. I made it to baggage claim about 1 minute before the bags started coming out onto the conveyor belt. I retrieved my bag and found my way toward the exit. When the doors open I saw Mayra and her husband, Julian. We exchanged besos and walked to the parking garage.

          For the most part I was able to answer their questions pretty well but we didn't really talk much on the two hour drive to Cuenca. We stopped at a gas station to get drinks. I thought it was weird that the gas station give glasses with ice and lemons and then a can of coke. But it was good.

         We went to Mayra's mother's house to pick up Cayetana and then went home. I was not tired at all so I put my things in my room then when I went downstairs Mayra prepared dinner. Fish with a green pesto looking sauce, and clams and shrimp. With a pepsi. Every meal, basically, is with pepsi in their family. I'm not sure if that's a spanish thing or a family thing.
         Anyway, that was my first day. We got to Cuenca at about 20:00 and ate at about 22:00. And I went to sleep at about 12:00. Thus, ending my first day in Spain.
         Sleep for days. Zzzzzzzzzz................
words I've learned: Pulpo, chupete, tacones (Octopus, pacifier, high heels)