Tu eres una patata

9/7 - I had another one of those moments today. And last night. And the night before.

Wow. I'm basically living in Spain!

La Almunia is completely different at night. Freed from the dictator that is the daytime summer heat, people can move about outside in comfort. There are people everywhere, including us. We went on a walk last night through the neighborhood and eventually settled on a street-side bench. Nuria wore her skates and we just enjoyed the cool, breezy evening in a random part of town in a very random part of Spain.

Today we went for a hike above Alpartir, which is nestled in the hills above La Almunia. This is a tiny village of 500 people, and it's where Felix and Rosa were married. It's a beautiful place, as there are no trees below a certain elevation. The town itself features one main road where the two local bars are located, and there's the sound of sheep up on the hillside. And after we finished the hike, Alpartir boasts some pipes that bring natural ground water to a shallow well where you can cup your hands together and quench your thirst. t's also where Rosa's mother lives, and we paid a visit to grandma's house for a few minutes.

Sometime during this visit, Nuria ingested something that gave her a massive sugar rush, and the rest of the evening I was wondering if she had snorted some cocaine. There's a level of hyperactivity normal for young children, and then there was this hyperactivity from Nuria. She was singing the same song (which she created herself) over and over at the top of her voice, speaking so fast it didn't sound like language, dancing, clinging to her parents, running around and generally using unlimited amounts of energy. Her eyes were popping out of her head!

10/7 - This blog has turned into me venting about Nuria. I know it's annoying, but here's one more. We were playing a game, but I didn't understand the rules. I said this to Nuria, but she kept looking at me like I'm stupid and talking in a condescending tone. She got even more Nuria-y as she started to raise her voice steadily until she was yelling at me to start playing. Eventually, I sat down and stopped, while trying to explain to Nuria that I don't want to play if she won't be nice or listen. This really made her mad, but I'm glad I did it. And the whole time, Alex was in the room, watching the exchange like a tennis match and eventually he went to his mother to tattle on his sister, despite my constant advice not to tattle because it's not his problem. She's only 7 (Saturday, July 11 is her birthday; she can't sleep because of that) and she has to eventually learn you don't get people to do what you want if you treat them like garbage and yell at them.

But a couple hours after that, we were fine. I played another game with the two, and this one focused on prepositions in English. I gave them a clue, and that led to another clue hidden between plants, another under the red watch, next to the sink, under the table and so on. It's surprising how much this grabs their attention.

I went to the grocery store with Alex so I could buy him some pizza for Sunday because, during a boardgame, he accepted my offer of 27 million Euros and one night of me cooking him dinner in exchange for Lionel Messi. And of course, I let him buy a large, chocolate, sweet, moon pie-like...thing. Like when I took my Kaichi group to Piccadilly Circus, we agreed to not tell his parents. But to make it look like nothing happened, we had to stop in a bar so he could wash his face and hands of chocolate, and he had to take his shirt off and put it in the laundry because there was chocolate on it. Him returning home without a shirt on is normal, considering the weather is so hot. In the end, Felix and Rosa had no idea, and Alex ate all of his dinner.

Good man, champ.

One more thing. Nuria was so excited the night before her birthday, singing at the top of her voice, "tomorrow is my birthday!" So naturally I was surprised when she was allowed to have half a glass of beer past 10 p.m. I was even more surprised it completely mellowed her out, and she was quiet as we watched a television show, and when I asked a question regarding what a word meant, she helped her father explain it to me.

11/7 - Today is Nuria's birthday. The family visited, including Angel, Michael and Felix's mother and sister. Of course, Nuria asked where my present was. I told her my present was me being there, helping them with English. I don't think she understands how big that is, being just 8 years old. She got a singing game for the Wii, and now she has a real microphone with with to sing. Being Nuria, she'll use that to sing everyday, sometimes yelling.

But the most memorable thing about today was the fact I felt the same embarrassed, shameful feeling I did during that first Spanish conversation club meeting at BU while at the pool today. I was with Felix and some of his friends. They were speaking quick Spanish, and I could just understand a few words. They were telling jokes, and when they talked to me, I couldn't understand anything they said. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, I excused myself to go swim for the next few hours. This is my low point during this experience. My confidence is shot. But I have to remind myself I've been speaking Spanish for less than two years.

12/7 - Other than more family visiting for lunch in celebration of Nuria's birthday, things got real today, to the point where I considered leaving because I felt I overstayed my welcome, especially with the kids. But after we aired out everything that's bothering us while at the pool, the situation is fine again. Alex wants me to stay longer than a month, and we settled for me coming back another time, perhaps next summer.