Oh Saturdays, what makes you so great? Is it the complete lack of responsibility? Or the care-free attitude that is present in the air? Either way, you are amazing, please never change. Today, I woke up and found my host mom’s brother here. He must have arrived last night, because I heard a lot of moving and talking in the middle of the night that had woken me up. He was visiting my host mom from Chile and so while I ate my breakfast, they went for a walk around Parque San Martin. While they were gone, the phone here rang off the hook! I felt like my host mom’s secretary, telling people that Lucy was not here, but she should be back in about an hour and that they could call back at that time. I was really hoping that it would only take an hour and that she wasn’t giving her brother the grand tour of the park, because I would have to change my script to, “Yeah, I don’t know where she is either, wish I could help you” and I’m not quite conversational enough to conduct that kind of business. When they did come back (thankfully within an hour) I gave the messages and then waited around for lunch, which consisted of grilled chicken, potatoes, and salad.
Afterwards, I elected to not take a siesta (what!?!?!) and went into town to buy minutes for my phone and lotion (because it’s dryer than Denver here and my skin is really beginning to feel it). Most of my friends were taking a cooking class that I didn’t want to take, or were participating in a mock-UN type of thing that was being put on by one of the classes that I wasn’t in, so there wasn’t anybody to go with, which was fine by me as it allowed me to get my errands done without diversion. On the way to the store, I was nearly mowed down by a bike gang! No seriously, an entire mob of children on bikes had taken to the streets with chaperones dispersed throughout the mass! (Reason #5 I don’t like kids: they travel in packs like wolves on the hunt) Apparently, it’s some kind of ‘Kids Week’ over here and bike riding through the city was one of the activities. The rest of my journey into town passed without incident and when I got back, I just relaxed in the living room. I Skyped with my parents and tried to Skype with my friend Maria (hollah) but it wasn’t working on her Smartphone (oh the problems of the world) and we had to reschedule for later that day. I think my host mom thinks that I’m some kind of pathetic recluse because whenever I’m working on my computer in my room, she asks my why I’m not in the living room. She then gives me a solution to whatever my reason may be and tells me to go sit in the living room. I’m going to look at it optimistically and say that she just doesn’t want me holed up in my room all day, and wants to see me make the most of my time here, even if it’s in the living room.
The rest of the day passed the way I believe every Saturday should. I relaxed on my computer watching YouTube videos and read a book in Spanish. After Skyping with some more friends, I went with my host mom to her sister’s house for a family dinner. My host mom is 1 of 12 siblings (yes, that’s right, 12, as in 2/3 of my staff last year!) so there were plenty of people there, including a huge Rottweiler who was there to greet us at the door. And when I say huge, I mean huge! Her neck alone was bigger than my head! There was also another kid from the IFSA program who was staying with one of my host mom’s sisters. Being with the whole family was kind of an overwhelming experience. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly and I felt both lost and like I understood what was going on all at the same time. When I wasn’t talking to one of my many host aunt/uncles/cousins, I was playing with my little host cousin Mia, who speaks both English and Spanish fluently (she lives in Miami with her mom, my host aunt Caroline). We drew pictures and jumped around and played some kind of imaginary game (which I didn’t really understand completely because she only spoke to me in Spanish, but asking for money was involved). She was actually pretty adorable for a child, and made me realize I can’t paint them all with the same annoying-rude-whiney brush that I usually do. The food was AMAZING!!! We had ‘asada’ which is like bar-b-cue only better, with chorizo and blood sausage. The food was so rich and I was so full by the end of dinner. I couldn’t believe I had eaten so much meat, thank god there was a salad and bread to go with it or I feel like I would be having a meat overdose. Mia, her mom Caroline, my host mom and I all left for our house as Mia and Caroline are going to be staying with us for a while.
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