Happy Birthday Ana!

Mom and the Alhambra

I took Mom on a walk ater classes on Thursday to see the Alhambra and various other sites in the city. We had a lovely time together. Thursday was a day of new foods. Mom and I cooked pancakes for dinner, some with chocolate chips and some plain. Mom had brought Aunt Jemima syrup and pure maple syrup from Maine for the family to try; Big Beatriz had been looking for an opportunity to try them, hence the pancakes. I also made s'mores in the oven for the girls and Javier to try. They obviously loved them, I mean, who doesn't. I also made a chocolate cake for Ana to bring to school using the cake mixes and frosting from home. She died at the sight of the triple chocolate dessert, heaven at it's best!

Oh hello there 

Javier and Ana playing Spanish-English learning games on the iPad

Ana and I making her birthday cake

The end product! 

S'mores for the first time ever!!

Braiding Beatriz's hair 

And...Ana playing with the penguins

Javier's parents, Pepe and Lola. Aren't they the cutest?!!

Friday was Ana's 9th birthday!! Mom and Beatriz went to the market in the pouring rain to get food for the party while I stayed home and cooked paella with Javier's mom, Lola. Pepe, Javier, Beatriz, Lola, Mom and I hung out in the kitchen drinking wine and having tapas while we waited for Ana and Beatriz to get home from school. We ate when the girls got home, and man did we eat! Lola had prepared a 5 course meal for our lunch, it was fantastic! First we had paella with various fish and chicken which was delicious, followed by pork with pineapple, and tapas. For dessert we had a strawberry and whipped cream/yogurt dish that was to die for! It had fresh strawberries blended in it, along with more cut up on top. I don't even like yogurt, but I could've eaten 5 bowls of it! 

Ana's birthday cake!

What's a party without balloons!?

Happy Birthday Ana!

I was pooped after lunch, but there was no time to rest. Ana's friends came over for the birthday party at 5, right as Mom and I were finishing blowing up the balloons. Many parents stayed for the party, so Mom and I hung out with them and talked as best as we could. A lot of the parents had host kids in their house too, so they were used to it. Many of the husbands spoke broken English, so we sat at the table as they tried to give us Spanish lessons. I found it very helpful.

Amy and her host family came over later in the night, so mom finally had another American to talk to. She was so excited to see all the American food in the house that Mom had brought. We spent the majority of the night socializing with the parents and watching as all the men got drunk off of wine, cubalibres and beer. It was very very entertaining, and made for a long, exciting night.

Saturday Mom and I babysat the girls while Javier and Beatriz went out to do errands. We had bought Ana a stuffed seal for her birthday so she brought it in and played with me and my penguins. I shouldn't have told her that seals sometimes eat penguins, because she chased me around the house trying to eat my penguins! In the end they were all friends though.

Javier took us all to the Albazyn for lunch. We went to the Mirador de San Nicolas, my favorite place in Granada. It has beautiful views of the Alhambra, and even though it was cloudy, it was still very beautiful. For lunch we went to this cozy little restaurant in the Albazyn that has amazing views of the Alhambra. We got a bunch of food to share; my favorite was the salad with a honey mustard dressing. It was sooooooo good!!! Mom was in awe at how pretty the area was.

What a view!

Me and Mommy!!

We are quite the dysfunctional group of girls, gotta love it!

Lunchtime! The restaurant was beautiful 

One of the cutest families I have ever met! I'm so thankful to be living with them

I love my host family 

The best salad ever!  

Walking in the Albazyn

After lunch we continued to walk through the neighborhood of the Albazyn. It was raining but worth it nonetheless. When we got back to the center, we witnessed three bachelor parties taking place at various bars. Apparently in Spain, the men go out to the bars, and the man-to-be has to wear a ridiculous costume. The women do the same for the bachelorette parties. It is a riot, all the men laugh and sing and dance and have a grand old time celebrating the last day of being single. On our way home Ana and I stopped by the pet store, and the German Shepard puppy was out and about playing in the store! Of course we had to go in, and the owner let us play with him, he was the cutest little thing! I think Javier would've bought him in a heartbeat if they didn't live in an apartment building. I was in heaven with the puppy!

Such an unfortunate bachelor's costume...

At least this guy got to be a king

Such a cute little puppy!

We had a nice quiet night in the house. Ana and I played with the penguins once again. They actually got married, it was very romantic. I also showed Javier and Beatriz pictures from my cross-country road trip, they were amazed at many of the things I had seen. Everyone went to bed fairly early, so Mom and I hung out in our room before falling asleep.