La gente en mi vida

I thought I would give you all a break from reading about our endless travels and adventures, and focus instead on something a little closer to home. I am surrounded by the most wonderful people here, and I feel like paying a little tribute to them.
First on the list...my dear amiga, confidante, roommate, and partner-in-crime, the lovely Katie. Though we only met last year, the other girls in our group assumed that we were childhood friends. And boy, do we play the part well. It is not an uncommon occurrence for us to finish each others sentences, say the exact same thing simultaneously, give each other a knowing look and instantly collapse into a fit of giggles, etc. We complement each other really well, and balance out each others eccentricities. Example: dearest Katie abhors seafood for the most part (however, Blanca is just too darn good in the kitchen, and I believe Katie is slowly developing a liking for it), and whenever Blanca makes paella (a traditional dish with rice, vegetables, meat and seafood) Katie stealthily slides her shrimp onto my plate when Blanca isn’t looking. And I do the same with my chorizo. We share our snacks at school like good little playmates, and the girls are constantly amazed at how we look out for each other.

 

You would think after living in such close quarters week after week, and spending the majority of our time together that we would be completely sick of each other by now, but miraculously we have not reached that point. I am so grateful to have Katie here with me-she is a perfect mix of fun-loving and responsible, which enables us to both be on time for school and go out and party it up on the weekends. It was definitely a blessing that we were in the same apartment complex freshman year, discovered that we both had the dream of studying abroad in Spain, and have embarked on this journey together.

  This is how we feel about our homework.

Katie is beeeeeautiful--inside, outside, and all over--and has been the most wonderful companion throughout our Spain mishaps and adventures. She has taught me so much already--from fashion to the definitions of obscure words like “pilly” (when little fuzzies accumulate on your clothes--who knew?), to introducing me to the magical singing-and-dancing world of “Glee”. We have so many inside jokes and marvelous memories so far, with many more to come. Thank you for being so wonderful, my dear! I love you!

  

Mi querida madre, Blanca.
Oh how I love this woman. I will not even be able to come close to giving an adequate description of just how fabulous she is...but I will try. She is an older woman, 62 years old to be exact. This works outs very nicely for her because it is the same age as her one true love: Richard Gere. (citation needed: gracias katí).  Blanca is very popular and social, and is constantly on the phone with her friends (all older single ladies). She goes out and parties with her friends on the weekends, oftentimes getting home later than we do! I’m sure until recently she thought we were pretty lame, because we always have homework to do and only go out on the weekends--but she thinks more highly of us now that we’ve gone to a discoteca and danced until the sun came up. :)

 

Blanca is the most amazing cook--practically everything that she puts in front of us is gobbled up within minutes. To say that I love her cooking would be an understatement. She keeps us very well fed and packs little lunches for us whenever we go out traveling with our group. We try to offer to help cook or clean up after the meals, but she insists that we are only here to study and party and it is her job to cook and clean. She faithfully does our laundry every Monday, and we always come home to our socks and other unmentionables blowing in the wind on the clotheslines outside. Good thing we live on the top floor and have a balcony for such things.

 

She always has the table set very prettily. And here is the weekly Monday view out the window.  

She really is the perfect madre for Katie and I--we love her to death! She gives us all this motherly advice about not going outside with wet hair to avoid infirmities, wearing something “un poco sexí” to the discoteca, how to be safe on the trains, etc. She also loves to point out all the attractive men to us in hopes of setting us up with some Spanish boyfriends--nudging us and saying, “ooh muy guapo eh?” We come to school everyday with new stories about her, and even though the girls in our group haven’t met her yet, everyone loves her. She makes us laugh constantly, and we have many many “Blanca-isms” that make for wonderful stories. She is so fabulous. Te amo mi madre.

Our dear director, Landes.
Landes and his wife and four of his younger children have all come along for the journey and are living in a nice little chalet near the train station (a nice, short walk for Katie and I). They have been so kind and generous and have opened their home to us countless times. Their children, especially the two youngest, keep us entertained and often accompany us on our excursions to different parts of Spain. Landes and Deb are the perfect director-parents for us. They are adorable together, and balance each other out well (especially with punctuality :)). I am so grateful to have such loving parents here.

.....Landas...?

:)

The gang.
These girls are the best. We have so much fun together--whether that be spending Valentine’s Day eating ice cream and watching Jane Austen flicks, attending classes, stopping at every pastry shop and eating delectable desserts, or adventuring throughout our beloved España. Everywhere we go, we manage to have a great time and always find the humor in our situations. Everyone brings something special and different to the group, and we get along spectacularly, which is definitely a blessing. You are all fabulous my darlings!