Familia: SPAIN STYLE

Wow, how lucky are we?! So, you all finally can see who I've been driving crazy these past few months. Here they are! They're pretty much amazing. And by pretty much I mean really amazing. The woman with the green shirt on is our Señora, and her name is Pilar. She's fantastic! She is really easy to talk to and is a great cook. We always have interesting convos at dinner. (And since no one in their fam speaks English, it's our Spanish practice time.) For instance, she listens intently as I tell her about my professor in my Volcanoes of Spain class and how hot he is. Then she makes inappropriate comments about other volcanoes going off.......YIKES! She's so blunt, it's hilarious! She actually reminds me alot of Grandma Ruef (and not just b/c she smokes). She's little and very straight-forward, but would do anything for you. She makes us feel right at home in Madrid.

The girl all in red is María, and she is 11. She is crazy, and I love it. Apparently music takes awhile to reach Spain. Her room is right next to ours, and she CONSTANTLY plays "Video Killed the Radio Star" (or whatever that crappy song is called). Oh, and she just bought "High School Musical," and she has a crush on one of the boys in it, so she now watches it todo del tiempo (all the time). Also, we constantly compete over whose cat Micho is. (Micho is the fat cat that I love. She won't accept that he's mine and just move on with life.) One more thing: she hates veggies. She's always pawning them off on one of us at dinner. DELICIOUS!

So, the other girl in the black shirt is Andrea, Pilar's other daughter. She is 16, and if you can picture the typical teenage girl, she is it. She has a boyfriend (Pablo, who we love and fondly call Pablito) and is constantly on the phone with him. She doesn't talk to us much (at all.........OK, she talks sometimes). She loves Avril Lavigne, Blink-182, and Fall-Out Boy. When she sings along in English I always wonder if she really knows what they're saying. Oh, and you'll all love this: she is the Spanish-speaking equivalent of me. Yep, she talks just as quickly as me. And the similarity doesn't stop there: SHE MUMBLES, TOO!! We could never have a convo in either language. Wah-Wah. (Debbie Downer)

Ok, so the one and only guy in the pics is Jesús, the beloved husband and dad. He is actually in the military and stationed in Kosovo. He was just home for 3 weeks to visit, and he leaves tomorrow. He is what I like to call "un hombre de pocas palabras" (a man of few words). There were never any lively convos at dinner with him, and it was sort of like the awkward dinner skit on Saturday night live where no one talks, and then when someone does it's really awkward (you might know this skit by its other name: the DODGE STRATUS skit). Buuuuuuuut the great thing about him being here is that we get to watch fútbol games on TV. The girls of the family aren't into sports, but Jesús (like any good Spaniard) loves it. So we've bonded (I use bonded very loosely) over a few games.

ALL IN ALL I COULDN'T HAVE ASKED FOR A BETTER FAMILY HERE! Rest assured that I've been in good hands. :o)