Hotter than the sun in the south of Spain!

First, I miss you all very much and really appreciate all the photos, emails with details about life back in the states, and texts! I can't believe August is almost over. It's amazing how time flies! It's still very hot here! It was like 90 degrees in Alcala the other day at 7PM in the evening. Kiki, even though you are in AZ I think I got you beat with the heat over here. :)

One thing is for sure that the Spanish people sure do know how to party! Edu and Carmen went to the wedding of a friend this weekend and the celebration lasted for 3 days. Not only were they invited to the lunches, dinners, parties, and everything else for the wedding....the accomodations for the entire weekend were included in the invitation. I don't want to see the final bill for the expenses of putting all of your guests up for a whole weekend! Anyways, because they were gone, the rest of us (Miguelito, Aena, y yo) went to Villanueva for the weekend to stay with my Spanish parents. As always, it was a wonderful weekend of swimming in the pool, great food, and playing with the kids.

Miguelito riding the bike like his older cousins. It is so cute because his legs can't really reach to make an entire circle with the petals so he just does half circles over and over and over in order to move forward. He almost has the ability to make a turn all by himself but really only goes in a straight line. And he needs help to get off so when he is tired of it he yells "Ania, quiero bajar!!" louder and louder until I go and get him off of the bike.

Miguelito playing with his animals to the left and to the right, Mickey (just back from Turkey) and Rasca with his new haircut. He looks like a different dog!!

Okay, so it is well known in the family that Sonia doesn't smile for ANYTHING! Carmen showed me her wedding album and Sonia didn't smile in any one of the photos. We had to do two takes to get her to smile and immediately after the flash, the smile faded and she went back to watching cartoons. It's so funny because she smiles a lot in real life!

My sister Elisa, the doctor should LOVE this story! One morning I slept in (more than usual) and so when I got up Paquita said that she thought that I had low blood pressure and that this was the reason for me sleeping more than normal. (Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to sleep in) So she whipped out an automatic blood pressure machine and proceeded to put the thing around my arm and turn it on to take my blood pressure. After two attempts the machine said that I had a blood pressure of 108/65, but in Paquita's words "Diez seis (ten six)" and said that it was too low and I had to drink coffee the next morning with my breakfast. She said that I should have a blood pressure around "thirteen eight" and made sure that my Spanish sister, Yolanda, also was aware that I was supposed to drink coffee the next morning. Then, when everyone got back on Monday night and we were having dinner, they proceeded to argue over whether I had to drink coffee to elevate my blood pressure or whether drinking some soda would do the trick. I love them!

Mickey and Ana came over for dinner a couple of times since Mickey had been gone to Turkey for work for about a week and everyone wanted to hear about his trip. We were all teasing him that he looks pretty middle eastern with his beard and that with a turban, he should have fit right in! Anyways, Ana and I got to talking and she told me that it was traditional when she was a little kid (she is in her late 30s now) that they would take out little kids' tonsils WITHOUT anesthesia!! She said that there was this chair that they would strap them into, insert this device that would open their mouth and basically hold them down to take out the tonsils. I can't even imagine! Then later on, I made the mistake of getting into a political discussion with Mickey which was a bad idea since Mickey served in the Spanish military and is VERY passionate about politics in general. I think that I can say my spanish is getting better if I can have a political debate with someone in another language! But I'm sure that I will hesitate the next time Mickey wants to talk about American politics with me.

I'm really excited that I applied to participate in a program called Pueblo Ingles and I was accepted! This is an intensive language program for people who want to be immersed in the English language for a week at a time. The last week of September, I will be traveling with about 50 other people (half Spanish people, half English speakers) to Valdelavilla in the Soria region of Spain (a little northeast from Madrid) to spend the week talking English with the Spanish participants. This program is VERY expensive for the Spanish speakers that pay for it but absolutely free for the English speakers. That means that I won't have to pay for any of my accomodations including hotel, food, or transportation. I think it will be a great opportunity for me to experience helping the Spanish participants be immersed in English.

I'm so excited that my two visits from friends from the US are almost here! Dahveed is coming in a little over a week, and then the following month Kat, Andrea and Anthony are coming. It's going to be so good to see some familiar faces and have some fun seeing all of the sights in Madrid. I can't wait!

Take care everyone and I hope you are all doing well. I miss you guys!

Steph