I made it! In Madrid, safely in my home-stay, absolutely adore my parents and got so lucky with an amazing apartment in a super nice area on the outskirts of Salamanca. I'll write plenty on all that later though. Life is good.
The quick post I wanted to make before unpacking and going to sleep is about my first (of what will be many) unfortunate and comical experiences here, which pertains to nearly assassinating my host father. As hosted students, we're supposed to bring some small gift to present to the family as a thank you and ice-breaker. Being fairly uncreative, I brought chocolate-covered cranberries and all sorts of other traditional American sweets as well as a homemade cake from Santiago. Of course I give these to the host mother and she's all thank you's and smiles. Later while we're talking and getting to know each other she informs me that her husband, my new father, is extremely diabetic and so for the most part they don't really eat desserts besides fresh fruit and the occasional bite of ice cream. After dinner, she proceeded to make a ceremony out of presenting my awkward compilation of candy and sweets on a variety of fancy dishes and brought them to the table for dessert. Side note--in Spanish culture it's considered very rude to refuse food or gifts from people. My host dad clearly experienced a brief moment of panic before saying "muchas gracias, muchas gracias" and serving himself as I awkwardly tried to insist that it's really okay, he doesn't have to eat them, it was just a gesture of thanks and I wouldn't be offended if he didn't want it or couldn't have it. He proceeded to choke down half a cake and a few bites of the chocolate before heading off from the table. As my friend Meghan said, there's a very good chance he's shooting up insulin in his room right now and trying not to die on the spot, so that's great. Go me. Next time I'll be a normal person and bring an appropriate housewarming gift like...say...a candle. Or a picture frame. Sigh.
The quick post I wanted to make before unpacking and going to sleep is about my first (of what will be many) unfortunate and comical experiences here, which pertains to nearly assassinating my host father. As hosted students, we're supposed to bring some small gift to present to the family as a thank you and ice-breaker. Being fairly uncreative, I brought chocolate-covered cranberries and all sorts of other traditional American sweets as well as a homemade cake from Santiago. Of course I give these to the host mother and she's all thank you's and smiles. Later while we're talking and getting to know each other she informs me that her husband, my new father, is extremely diabetic and so for the most part they don't really eat desserts besides fresh fruit and the occasional bite of ice cream. After dinner, she proceeded to make a ceremony out of presenting my awkward compilation of candy and sweets on a variety of fancy dishes and brought them to the table for dessert. Side note--in Spanish culture it's considered very rude to refuse food or gifts from people. My host dad clearly experienced a brief moment of panic before saying "muchas gracias, muchas gracias" and serving himself as I awkwardly tried to insist that it's really okay, he doesn't have to eat them, it was just a gesture of thanks and I wouldn't be offended if he didn't want it or couldn't have it. He proceeded to choke down half a cake and a few bites of the chocolate before heading off from the table. As my friend Meghan said, there's a very good chance he's shooting up insulin in his room right now and trying not to die on the spot, so that's great. Go me. Next time I'll be a normal person and bring an appropriate housewarming gift like...say...a candle. Or a picture frame. Sigh.