El sabado (on Saturday), Laura and I had our very first exposure to paella!!! It is a very famous Spanish dish that we always read about in every single Spanish textbook. It features arroz con pollo (chicken with rice) and calamari, cooked in a special sauce that tints the dish a shade of amarillo (yellow). I'm still trying to adjust to eating a very big meal mid-day-- Laura and I tease that by the end of this experience, when we return to our apartment at Cornell, we're going to purposely create nuestras horarios (our schedules) to have huge gaps mid-day to give us time to come back for la comida (lunch).
So I know there was a bit of confusion, at least on our part, when we arrived at nuestra casa (our home) and we didn't hear the barking of the dog, Wendy (Pronounced in high-pitched voice as WAAYYN-DEEE!), that the housing director described in the e-mail. Wendy and Theo actually live with Cristina y sus hijos (Cristina and her children), but from what I've noticed all the times her family comes over to dine, los perros les acompañan (the dogs come with them). The are two very tiny white malteses that run around and YIP YIP YIP. It's funny because Ana kind of handles them the way that I handle Señor Gato at home. Qué monos son! (how cute they are).... They spent most of the time hiding under la camilla, the table in the center of their living room draped with a heavy cloth-- underneath the table frame is a special heater that stays trapped by the cloth, under which everyone stick their feet when they sit down. Kind of reminded me of Pantoufle when he hinds in the secador (dryer).
Wendy and Theo came over with Cristina and her two children, Juan and Paloma, to join us for paella. Paloma is only 11-years-old, but could easily pass for quince años (15). She has a good 3 inches on me and speaks quite maturely. It's not that she wears mucho maquillaje (a lot of make-up), like the girls in New York who try to look twice their age-- I think it's just that she carries herself con confianza (with confidence). She was very helpful in the kitchen, which was greatly appreciated by Ana. Her brother tiene catorce años (14-years-old) and looks like your typical teenager at the table, with his cellphone glued to his side, whining to his mom about wanting to salir (leave). After serving paella, they came out with a more obscure dish-- it was a hard boiled egg cut in half, filled with el atún (tuna fish), la mayonesa (mayo), and some other cream I couldn't identify. They were also sprinkled with something brown, which I also didn't recognize. And, obviamente (obviously), we cannot forget it was all served with pan (bakery bread).
About the title of the post...
A veces (sometimes) Ana leaves the tv on during dinner, and it is usually still tuned into the shows que le gusta Manolo (that Manolo likes)-- which is usually some wildlife show. This one happened to be featuring el cocodrilo (crocodile). At one point, before I even realized this was on TV, Ana was going on and on about el horror (the fright) and strangeness of finding un coco en el jardín (the garden)... but I was under the impression that "coco" meant coconut... so for about 5 minutes, I attempted to justify what would provoke Ana to keep repeating "QUE MIEDO ME DIO!" (what fear it gave her!) I mean, coconuts aren't lethal? It was then when she clearly caught me staring up into space that she pointed a finger at the TV and yelled at me:
"MIRA!! MIRA QUE FEOS SON! MIRA MIRA MIRA QUE FEISIMOS"
Or: Look how ugly / horrifying / terrible
Sure enough, I turned and saw the ugliest, scariest cocodrilos filling the screen. Laura and I have learned to anticipate when she will direct us using "MIRA" because otherwise it's too funny hearing her repeat it constantly.
Later that night, we went out to a discoteca (dance club) again... This time, we saw SO many people from Cornell-- mainly girls in Laura's sorority and some boys in a frat we know. It was a lot of fun being out of context with them (everyone is so much nicer). I also ran into a few familiar faces from high school. Again, we met a lot of Spanish boys, mostly our age, and it is amazing how intrigued they are to meet chicas de los Estados (girls from the states). We took some fun pictures which we will post soon (Laura made an album on facebook). It was another 4:30 AM night, but I promise PROMISE Ana is fine with it... she's always quite amused, as seen in way she clasps her hands and asks us a million times, "Cuéntame algo de anoche!" (Tell me about last night!)
She let us sleep late again, and so Laura and I decided to take a walk around one of the nearby parks, but we weren't out long when she called us in for la comida-- Cristina and Paloma had returned. We tried the most delicious aceitunas (olives) and she made the most INCREDIBLE mashed potatoes pollo con una salsa de cebollo, manzana y cerveza (chicken with a sauce, consisting of onions and apples mixed with a beer). She naturally gave Laura and me the biggest pieces, but I had some major dificultades (difficulties) cutting it because it was still on the bone. And by the time I managed to cut like 4 pieces of it, everyone else had finished and I looked awkward... and then my plate was cleared :( . Note to self: learn how to cut my own food at a normal pace.
I was TAN LLENA (so full) after that meal that I didn't know what to do with myself, so I just caught myself up on last week's episode of the Bachelor (THANK GOD HE KICKED THE PSYCHOPATH MICHELLE TO THE CURB). And at 6:00, the sun was still out so I went for a 45 minute run around... I went down one of the main avenues, called Palmera -- which is suiting, considering the street is lined with palm trees. The heart palpitations did return for the first time in a few months, but I think that could be a product of exercising after spending 2 straight nights in a covered club full of fumadores (smokers). I'm going to take it easy...
All right, well I've given you a lot material for the day, so I will save today's excitement for another post... Ana will be ringing la campana for dinner in about 20 minutes (I started this post after el desayuno and came back to it now)
Laura and I have to get ready to see our first FLAMENCA SHOW!
Mira! Mira qué monisimos son los bailadores!
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