Get on with it!

This conversation recently occured when Dante was playing on the armchair and we were sitting to eat dinner...(translation below)
Dante: *crying* Quiero pinones! Damelos por favor?
Rocio: Vale.
Dante: *still crying* Pues, venga, vamos!


Dante: *crying* I want pinenuts! Will you give them to me please?
Rocio: okay. (continues dishing out her bowl of soup)
Dante: *still crying* Well, alright already, let's get on with it!

Reindeer Syrup

I was talking to my host dad about typical breakfast food in America today, so of course I needed to talk about maple syrup. They don't really have that here, because they don't have maple trees.

I remember looking it up in the dictionary before, and it's "jarabe de arce" (syrup of maple). I kept saying that until he stopped me and said "Arce? Arce? When we think of Arce, we think of the animals that Santa Clause has."

So he was saying "arce" meant "reindeer." But I looked up maple in my dictionary to be sure and I was right, it was "arce." Reindeer was something completely different. But if that's what he calls reindeer, I have no way of describing maple.

I mean, I could draw a maple leaf, but it would most likely look like a marijuana leaf.

And I can't just point out the type of tree, because they don't have them.

It's something so abstract that you can't even describe the flavor...just that it is sweet, and goes well with pancakes.

Multi-use items

Carly just posted the following on my facebook wall. Prior knowledge needed to understand:
This week there are a ton of processions for Easter week.
Her host mom tapes notes on her door with bandaids.




A) I just looked out my window and there is a large crowd which means there is going to be another f-ing parade.

B) If I die within the next few days of heart complications or clogged arteries don't be surprised, I discovered that my host mom rarely cooks with olive oil--vegetable is her oil of choice, olive ...oil is just to add after the food has been in a hot tub of oil.

Oh wait, there is one more thing...

C) I discovered that my host mom likes to make use out of more household items than just bandaids, she uses feminine pads as cushioning for her shoes. HahahHHHHHaaaa

BBQ Pizza

Right now I am eating a frozen pizza labeled as "BBQ" that I am pretty sure contains pulled pork.

Spain, this is a culinary accomplishment.

"ooooh f**k."

Normally, on Tues. and Thur., I eat lunch with Carlos. I call him and hang up (it's free if he doesn't pick up) to notify him when I get on the bus to go home. Then I come home and the food is ready and we eat.

On Mondays/Wednesdays, I make a meal or take a tupperware of pasta/food to the internship and microwave it there.

So today, Wednesday, Carlos asked me the following (translation follows).

"Qué pasó hoy? Dónde estuviste? He esperado tu llamada por dos o tres horas, y hice la comida. Rocío estuvo aquí y comió, pero le dije “voy a esperar a Melissa.” Y esperé, y esperé, y después me dije “voy a comer ahora también, porque ahora tengo hambre!” Pero pensé en que era tú, y normalmente me mandas un mensaje si no puedes comer o algo, pero…ohhh Fuck. Es miércoles."

What happened today? Where were you? I awaited your call for two or three hours, and I made lunch. Rocio was here and ate, but I told her that I'd wait for you to eat. I waited and waited, then I was like "Now I'm gonna eat because I am hungry!" But I thought with you being you that you would send me a message or something if you couldn't get home and eat, but...oh fuck. It's wednesday."

And yes, he actually swore in English.

Calpe Update with Pictures (with captions!)

As I mentioned before, we went to Calp for the day.

I think it is written "Calp" but pronounced "Calp-ay" so sometimes I write it with an E.

Drew, my friend, organized a trip for us to go there, and it was about 10 euro round trip to get there. We had a brief stop at the beach, then we climbed up the mountain for most of the time. It was super cool, with these ropes that helped you around "rough" areas. When we got to the top, there were 2 cats living off of human food, as well as a bajillion seagulls that came within feet of our heads. The view was gorgeous. We ate our bagged lunches when we got to the top, much to the jealousy of those cats.

When we got down, we stopped at a cafe just because, then caught a bus ride to the tram. We were cutting it close, b/c the tram left only every hour, so we caught the bus and literally got to the tram station 2 minutes before it arrived, around 8pm. We got on the tram home and witnessed a dancing, screaming/singing drunk spanish woman, which was entertaining for about 5 minutes, then annoying for the rest. Overall, it was a successful trip.


Check out this link to see pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/108023025018790851796/Calpe#
Let me know if it doesn't work...

First radio broadcast!

Check it out:

Dante Quote of the Day

"Vamos a cenar! Dante! Y Mama! Y Papa! Y...Melissa! Y Mama! Y Dante! Y Papa! Y Mama! Y Dante!"--Dante, on eating dinner and who was participating.

Top Four Cute Things Dante Did Today

4. He walked in the room, quietly sucking on a pacifier. He stared at me working on the computer and looked at the screen for a few seconds. Then my face, then the screen, then my face. Then he wobbled to the table next to me, took my phone, stared at it, then brought it to me and put it on the armrest of the chair. Then he wobbled back out of the room, all without one word.


3. Charlotte's Web came on TV when we were eating lunch. Normally he is very happy and energetic during lunchtime, and he talks and screams. But he was so intrigued by this movie that he slowly slid out of his chair, then walked over to the arm chair (eyes glued to the screen) and sat down. He sat there sucking on his pointer finger, watching intently. Carlos thought it was so amusing that Dante was so quiet, so he started doing things that Dante would normally do. There would be a cow on the screen and he said "Mira! Dante! Mira! Ves la vaca!? Si?!" (Look! Do you see the cow?!) And he kept doing it for every animal on the screen. Dante stayed in a trance-like state, fully amused by the talking pig and the spider who could write words.
On a side note, when they showed the rat named "Templeton" my host parents asked me if it was his first or last name. I said I didn't know. They asked me if it was more of a traditional first or last name or if I knew anyone with that name. I told them it was very weird and that I had never heard it before. They seemed really intrigued by the rarity of this name.


2. His dad was getting ready in the bathroom to go out, putting on cologne and doing his hair. Dante opened the door and walked in, pointed to his new Frog-shaped inflatable tub sitting by the shower, then told me "Mira! Mira" (Look! Look!) His dad told him to get out so he could finish getting ready. I started walking back down the hall, then Dante comes out and says "Mira! Mira!" then holds out a finger. I was like "What, your finger?" Then he just swiped it across his forehead, and left a blatant white streak of face lotion. Then he just left it like that and continued walking around the house with a white streak on his face.


1. Before he went out with his parents, he walked into the room, and simply said to me "Adios, me voy a la calle." (Bye, I am going out.) Then he left.