The night of the last blogpost, I went with my host family on a picnic. Having little understanding of the language, I made out simply that we were walking and that it was a very short walk (if you have read the last blog post, you know, as I do, that this could actually mean that the walk is quite a long one). So we set off (just the kids, the parents drove with the food) and as we walked to the other side of the village, I told my host sisters (both of whom are currently applying to go abroad next year, one to the U.S., one to Denmark) about the application process. I was so focused on the conversation and trying to use my limited vocabulary to convey fairly complicated ideas, that I did not notice that we had abruptly come out of the town, and into the farmlands. It was getting to be dark, but we walked without much problem in the dusk, our laughter ringing out over the fields, filling the cool night's air with happiness. I understand how pretentious that sentence was, but it was one of those moments that made me appreciate life. Another of those moments came a bit later, when it was truly dark, and we were looking for a way to get light without wearing the glaring head lamps that we had brought for the walk. Instead we were putting them in plastic cups, which created fun, colorful, not-to-harsh lights. My five year old host brother's "lamp" glowed particularly well, and then we realized that that was because he still had water in it. We managed to salvage the battery, and got a good laugh out of it as well.
I will skip the next day, that is to say, yesterday, because it was a hard day, and I have decided that this will be a positive post only.
Today, I woke up to the joyful sounds of my two youngest host siblings yelling at each other downstairs. When I went downstairs to inspect, I found them squabbling in the kitchen over whether to have the TV volume at one level or the other (the volumes in question being less than audibly different).
Soon, both of my host parents were also in the kitchen, and a nice conversation about the cartoon characters of the household's favorite show was in full swing. I managed to contribute a bit, something I was very proud of, considering the infrequency with which I do that these days.
After sneaking some extra Nutella, my youngest host brother and I played a game, where one person draws on a white board and the other guesses what it is. The upside to this game: does not require a huge vocabulary. The downside: neither of us are very good artists. After much laughter over how silly my drawing of a bee was, I settled down on the patio with a Harry Potter book, (my main source of comfort here in this strange land).
Midday passed lazily, with my grandmother's beautiful piano playing in the background, and a simple lunch of cheese, tomatoes, salad, and hummus.
At six-o'clock, I tried yoga for the first time ever. The teacher was very nice, and while I had no idea what she was saying for the most part, I watched what others did, and recognized the words for "right" and "left". It was surpringly difficult, but more than that, it was a good excuse to relax and not talk for a bit.
At dinner, my host sisters and I laughed so hard we couldn't breathe at several incidents that have occurred since I arrived (only some of which had to do with me).
To wrap up the evening, we sat in the living room and laughed at a cheesy TV show for about half an hour before heading to bed.
Today, was the best day of my exchange so far, and I wanted to share it with you all!
Thanks for reading!!
You are so lucky to have such a great family in Spain! You will have so many great experiences. One word of advice. Don't laugh so hard milk comes out your nose. Or laugh hard but avoid drinking at the same time.
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