April 5

Writing from Madrid. The family is spending their Semana Santa (Easter, except here you get the whole week off work!) in Villarobledo, a small town where all of their family resides, in between Murcia and Madrid. So while we were already fairly close I thought I would come here for a couple days, it is the capital after all. Most of whom I have talked with have informed me that Madrid is not really that great, other than the very impressive museums (this seems to be especially the opinon of young people). So far I can mostly agree. I spent a few hours of my day in the Reina Sophia Museum, which was incredible and huge, and then the rest of my day wandering about and hanging out in a park. The museum is mostly fairly modern paintings and some sculpture. Upon entering an exhibit of surrealist art, I was frozen in place when I realized that the paintings before me were Dalís. A few years ago I made a list of one hundred things I wanted to do before I die, and seeing a Dalí was number forty something. The paintings that this museum contains are not particularly famous, but the just the presence of them sent shivers down my spine and made me feel feverish and dizzy. Number forty-something: check.
This evening as I was eating and reading by myself in a cafe, I got a phone call from Tomás, just checking in and making sure I was alright. What a radical transition it has been to be living with my new host family, from travelling across Spain totally on my own and wandering around strange towns with my back pack, looking for hostels or addresses of friends of friends. While I now have this whole new responsibilty of making sure nothing horrible happens to these three young Spanish children, I also have my own ¨mom and dad¨holding my hand. The other day when I went to the train station, and Tomás actually gave me a ride and then went in with me, bought my ticket, and led me to the exact platform I needed. After the last two months it feels like a band aid and a lolly pop. I have been trying to run and do yoga whenever I can, as I find that it helps me to maintain my energy with the kids if I get exercise. The only problem is that the parents don´t want me running alone, for fear of men bothering me. At the dinner party they were hosting we were dicussing this topic and in an attempt to shrug off their worries I tried to jokingly tell them that I would be okay because I have a knife that I could bring with me. Except that instead of ¨cuchillo¨, I told them that I have a ¨cucharillo¨ or a little spoon. So to all my family back home, don´t you be worrying about me! I can take care of myself! I´ve got my little spoon!
I have yet to convince them that I can handle running alone.
But overall I am still enjoying my job and currently my main focus is cramming my brain with Spanish. I spend a lot of time reading childrens´books and magazines, and everywhere I go I carry around a small notebook to record new words I hear. Hopefully I will be able to take a few classes in Murica, I think just one or two days a week of an upper intermediate level class would be extremely beneficial, at this point I mostly need specific grammar instruction.
I can´t believe I have already been with the Jimenez´s for two whole weeks. I am anticipating that these next two months are going to fly by. Hope everyone at home is well and had a nice Easter (if you celebrate Easter, if not, hope you had a nice Sunday.)
Un montón de abrazos.