the Current Events of my life

This past weekend was rainy and perfect for relaxing. We had plans to go to Cádiz, the oldest city in Europe which also happens to be a beautiful costal town with a beach, but we have postponed our plans to another, more sunny time. My room mate, I, and some friends met up for some rainy day shopping and then we went to the movies and saw Los Girasoles Ciegos (The Blind Sunflowers), a sad but very beautiful tragedy of a family during the Franco era.

Monday I started my new classes, and so far have enjoyed them. There is a festival of nations in town, and Meara (the room mate I´m always writing about) and I went to walk around and look at the booths which sold goods from each nations that was represented. There were a few booths that had witch statues and giant butterflies and magical things. I debated which nation this could have been, but then decided that it was probably a booth from another realm instead.

Last night after my class, I went to sit on a bench in front of this big beautiful fountain in the city, and I watched the pigeons and the mischevious little old men. Cities are prime people watching places, and I have to say that between Meara and I, we have seen some pretty strange things. Yesterday she saw a couple on a street corner go from 1st to 3rd base, what with the traffic driving by and people everywhere! Once we saw a woman in a big dress shirt with a belt cinched around the watse. She must have taken it from her husbands closet. It actually made for a really cute dress, but then the wind blew and the last few 6 inches of the shirt didn´t button, blowing open to reveal her crotch.

Anyhow, last night was a night of triumphs, and when you are functioning in another lanuage, I feel like even the smallest of accomplishments can be celebrated. Like buying stamps and asking the lady behind the counter a question and actually understanding the answer. This was exciting for me. And then my intercambio (my speaking exchange partner) called and we had an entire conversation in Spanish. And then I came home and chatted with my host mother for a little while, and the conversation was actually a realy, functioning conversation.

During dinner, my room mate was trying to expain a recipe for an Apple Crisp to our host mother, and we had no idea what the world for oat meal was. I found oats in the dictionary and then clapped my hands together and went ¨pbbbttt¨ to signify flat, and she looked at me and said rolled oats! It was amazing, my host mother! I laughed out loud right then and there at the rediculousness of my gestuer, and how she just knew. She has been hosting foreigners for more than 20 years now, so I guess she´s pretty used to lame dinnertable conversations about how the carrots are funny here, or whatever the heck her guests have the vocabulary to say. Or when they like the food, then the tortilla is good, the salad is good, everything is good, good, good! What is good is to learn more descriptors. Thank goodness my room mate is a good spanish speaker. She can carry on a really decent conversations with our host mother, and then I join in and am improving.

Allright, time to go see more of the world and less of this computer screen. Love you all, my friends!