French Tortilla

Hey, I'm back!!! AND I just finished lunch... it is about 3:45ish Spain time :)
Lunch = yuck. It was some kind of white beans... yuck. Cold tomatoes... yuck. Tuna... yuck. Green olives... yuck. Onions... okay, though preferably not cold. Egg... okay, depending on the way it is cooked.

Conchi decided that the reason I didn't seem to like it was because I am still unaccustomed to the amount of Olive Oil they use... not so sure about that. But then, she brought out the usual fruity dessert.... an Apple (yum) that was big enough to be a meal by itself!

I have found that a lot of food we are eating here is very similar to what we eat at home, but different. For example, last night I ate 3 hot dogs (though they looked like better quality meat than our hot dogs and were smaller in size) and mashed potatoes (not the real kind, but still pretty good). I don't USUALLY eat these together, but I like them both. She also gave me Ketchup. :) The night before, we had a potato soup which was REALLY tasty. Conchi also made what I have since learned is considered the French Tortilla. It is an egg cooked on the stove like normal but flat like a tortilla. To go with this, we had a slice of Bologna.

In other news, Monique has moved out into another house so I now have my own room and, more importantly, my own fan. yay! A word about that.... Monique was soooo rude! She arranged to be moved out and the school called Conchi during the day to tell her. Monique told me at school, but didn't come home with me. Later, while I was eating lunch with Conchi and Nacho, she came into the house and the kitchen, looked directly at me (and only me) and told me, IN ENGLISH, to tell Conchi she was getting her stuff and not coming back. Then she left, and went into the room to get her stuff. Conchi went in there after a few minutes and was talking to her. She was pretty much asking for Monique to go say goodbye and thank you to Nacho. (He had helped her when her luggage hadn't been here at first and had let her use his phone and stuff). But Moniue just kept saying "No entiendo. No entiendo." (I don't understand.). Then she left. The weirdest part was that she didn't even take everything! And. later that week, a box arrived for her from her mom with a few pants, shirts and underwear in case she hadn't received her luggage yet. They were boy clothes. Conchi thought that was the weirdest  thing ever, and I had to agree it was pretty strange.

One of the worst parts about that whole situation is that Conchi likes to discuss it with me over and over and over again. Now I have nothing against Spaniards, right, but they are racist. I'm not just talking in an "under the table" sort of secret way... but like in a "full out everyone knows" kind of way. To be fair, they have a lot of issues with people coming over illegally from Africa and causing trouble around the city, so it is no surprise they act the way they do a bit. Conchi had never hosted a "persona de calor" as she calls Monique, but had assumed it would really be no different than any other person...her mind is forever changed. It is a little sad that Monique's bad attitude has negatively influenced Conchi, but there is really no remedy for that.

I think I mentioned it before, but it is hot here!... though without humidity, so honestly it feels a lot better to me. Since I am not used to Celsius, though, I only just now realized that we went over a hundred at least three or four out of the eight days I have been here, maybe more.Thankfully, I have been very fortunate, I now realize, in ending up with Conchi. The only room in her house that has air conditioning is the kitchen, but she uses it freely, so that is nice. Also, she placed a fan in my room for me to use. She has actually come into my room before when I've not had it on and scolded me for not using it! This is completely different from some of the other students in my program! Some of them aren't allowed to use a fan even if they buy it themselves!

Also, in other news, I have figured out a little more of Conchi's children... Miguel is the oldest and lives in Malaga from what I can tell. I am in his old room, which has a bunch of sports posters, most of then American, including a SIGNED Michael Jordan poster. Cool. Now for Rosa and Nacho.... you'll never guess... TWINS! I think Rosa is older though. I am still not sure what she does, but Nacho gets up really early in the morning and works till about 3pm.They are both nearing 30 years old. Apparently in Spain, though, it is completely normal for kids to  live at home until in their 30s when they get married and move away. Miguel isn't married, so I am assuming he moved for work. I didn't want to ask in case it was a touchy subject, but the Mr. Conchi (or whatever his name was) appears to be deceased. Conchi's mother was over the other day, though... ancient! But Conchi was feeling particularly generous and fed me some of the ice cream they were sharing!

Hmm, what else? Oh yeah: SPAIN IS GOING TO THE WORLD CUP FINAL!
It is funny how many Spaniards were sure they would loose the semi-final. When they won, they lost it. Seriously. They were crying, screaming, running through the streets and jumping into the river and fountains.... some of them were even sin ropa  0_0

Umm... lets see.... I have started my classes. From 9am-11am I take Conversations with Dr T. Then, I have to high-tail it to the other building for my 11am-12pm Historia class. After that, I have a 1:30 to 2:30 Spanish Civilization and Culture class, then home for lunch :)

What is weird about classes here is that when teachers miss class, they just assign makeup classes or replacement classes. My History teacher, for example, missed the first day, so yesterday, he told us we had to come back later for another hour of class. And my Civ and Culture teacher made us stay an extra hour after class yesterday as well because she wanted to cancel class today. Dislike. Why should they get to do that??

Anyway, so this weekend is our only completely free weekend while we are here. I am pretty sure I am going down to Gibraltar tomorrow which I hope will be really awesome :) That's all for right now I guess.... time for my siesta (which reminds me, we Americans should also petition for a nationally recognized nap time).
Hasta luego.