one week anniversary

so I've been here for a week already! wow it feels like its been... a week. lol I've done a ton of stuff but I also have a lot of free time so it does feel like a week.



oh my she is so cute

so the last two days I've met a ton of family. yesterday, my uncle Ramon, and my grandma Abuela (lol I don't know her name) came over. Abuela is 92. frickin 92! wow. I loved her little old grandma Spanish voice. we talked for a little bit but since it was hard to hear her, I ended up saying no entiendo (I don't understand) a lot. but she is super cute.

ramon and my father! ramon is 52 and my father 56

they came over for lunch but I already forgot what we ate, sorry. but we basically just hung out outside and in the living room and talked. they are relatives on my dads side, so it was awesome seeing him teasing his brother and having fun. also last night I went out with ana to Irene's (ee-reh-nay) house. we were there with 3 other girls for dinner; macaroni, tomato sauce and sausage. pretty good. after that 3 guys came and they were just talking and hanging. I was really tired, so I went home. but on the way ana said like 20 more guys were going to come. that's a lot. and we were just outside and there weren't that many seats. but anyway, they weren't there yet because they were watching soccer in a bar. which is not unusual. so yeah, I got home and went to bed.

today I got up around  1030 and sadly I haven't found a church yet. since im not catholic, it might be awhile until I do. but hopefully I can find some people at school or something that I can connect with. anyway, I got up and ate a nutella-and-bread breakfast. it was awesome. then after a while, family began arriving for the big lunch we were about to have. these people were all on my moms side. there was her brother (Ilda), his wife (Sylvia), and their 2 daughters (Pati and Lucia), and her mom and dad. I had already met her parents, but not the others. Ilda spoke English really well so we chatted about iowa and my house and I showed him some pictures. I know im supposed to be learning Spanish, but talking to someone in English is really nice. also they help me if I don't know a word, or they can explain a Spanish phrase that I don't get. it works out. so anyway, lunch. first there was potato chips, cheese, and little sausages set out while the food was finishing. we almost always have these as little appetizers. usually there are also olives, which im not a huge fan of. then we had salad with spinach, green tomato, prunes, potato, and some kind of fishy thing I don't remember. I only really like lettuce so I didn't eat much of that, sadly. then the main course was chicken. yay chicken!  then for dessert we had this lemon cake. oh my goodness it was delicious. Ilda told me that there's a pastry store in Madrid that supposedly makes the best lemon cakes and that's where they got it. and I have to agree, it was fantastic. its kind of like a lemon bar except there was more crust, the lemon part wasn't as tart and was creamier, and theres like a whipped cream like topping. so it was awesome. im loving the desserts here. I've also tasted and loved mango ice cream. which is weird because im not a huge fan of mango, but I love this stuff. so anyway we ate and chatted, and im becoming much better at separating words and understanding when people talk, but I've still got a long way to go. also, the person I actually exchanged with, Nando, my host brother, is in Buffalo, New York, so we all skyped with him after lunch. He is having a harder time with the language there than I am here, but it seems like he's still having a great time. then later I was talking with my grandparents and they said they wanted me to come over to their house, only me, and have lunch and go somewhere! wow I felt so loved. they are so cool. seriously people here are just really chill, its sweet. so then Ilda and his family went home, and we took abuela and abuelo home. they live in more of downtown Madrid, although its all pretty much downtown...lol its just more in the city. so we took them home, then dropped ana off so she could go see her boyfriend, and my mom and I drove around part of Madrid and I saw some big parks and statues that hopefully if we find a parking spot next time I can get some good pictures :) so that was fun.

then we came home and I ate some bread and ham for dinner, and of course some mango ice cream. I also chatted with a few of my friends on facebook and here I am.

also, oh my goodness, huge revelation, I found out my dogs name is actually vera. like what the heck. I thought it was bella. but I guess its pronounced basically the same way. so no one noticed that i said it wrong, but then I asked ana how you spell it and she said v-e-r-a. wow. embarrassing. lol. so that was my revelation of week one. we'll see what happens next week ;)