Its All Coming To An End...

I am finally done with all my classes. We change levels each month so I had eight days of class and then had to take exams, so it was a weird month of classes. We were allowed to miss 80% of classes so that means one class a week so I would miss Friday and sometimes Monday every other week to have a longer trip. My teacher called me “El viajero incansable” because I go on trips and miss class. Don’t worry mom… I attended at least the required amount of class. I have been ready to be done with classes here but I know I will miss Spain. Once Thanksgiving hit a lot of people started to say they were ready to go home.

Our Group Despedida Dinner Last Week - 37 people

Today I had my only two finals and now I’ve got two days of free time in Granada before I start my voyage home. It’s going to be a long day but I am excited to get back home and see friends and family. I get back Friday night around 11, so hopefully I will sleep on the plane rides and I will be able to see those of you who will be in Cedar Rapids.

Pete and I Slaving in the Kitchen

Pete and I were forced to cook dinner for our family last night because our señora refused for us to take her and the family out for a dinner, so she talked us into cooking. I just want to say neither of us had ever actually cooked over a stove before, because mac & cheese, ramen noodles and pre-made oven pizzas don’t really count. So we thought and really couldn’t come up with anything and we wanted to learn how to make Spanish tortilla, and its similar to omelets but they only put in potato and onion. So I went to the supermarket and found a bag of chopped onions, cucumbers, red and green peppers. I also got cheese and some ham – no meal in Spain is complete with out some kind of ham. Pete decided on an apple crisp for desert and it was interesting because his mom sent him a recipe in cups and ounces and we had to convert to grams and milliliters. The recipe required a stick of butter and we had more like a brick of butter and just made an educated guess.

My "Tortilla Americana"

Reminding you that we had never cooked these meals before, or ever really cooked much at all. Our meals turned out quite well. The flipping of the omelet was not as bad as expected and they turned out great. My señora borrowed by camera and took several pictures of us because she said your parents won’t believe you when you tell them that you cooked a meal and we liked it. There was a lot of pressure especially from Galdric, our host brother because he is a really good cook, and we were the first students to ever cook for them. They loved it and they called it “Tortilla Americana”. Pete’s apple crisp turned out well even though it wasn’t like normal apple crisp, but it was still delicious.

A Typical meal with the host family - Galdric to be funny by sticking a spoon in his mouth for the picture, Yaya looks like she's mad at Galdric, and Pete and I both have very stupid looks on our faces.

I’m happy that Pete and I made dinner for our host family. It was fun to cook, it turned out well, and most of all, they liked it. Also we have left over desert for when more family comes over tomorrow. Pete leaves Wednesday at 6 AM so tonight is our despedida or goodbye dinner with the rest of our family.