Four Things

First thing: I want to apologize for not posting any pictures anytime recently. I have a great one of the grandkids hitting the Caga Tio on Christmas and a shot of the whole family too, but I cannot post them on the University computers. For some reason the computer doesn´t like my camera and won´t recognize it. So, I have to wait until my lovely friend, Trisha, gets back at the end of January and see if she will so kindly let me upload my pictures to the internet once again on her computer.

Second thing: My trip is officially delayed one day because I still have not received my train ticket in the mail. My mom sent it to me over three weeks ago so that I would get it in time, but the post office here has been closed so much in the last few weeks I´m sure it is just sitting in a pile waiting to be delivered to my house. So far not too many plans have been messed up, I just cancelled my first night in the hostel in Marseille and will only spend one night there now instead of two. If, however, the ticket does not come by tomorrow then I will have to do some major rearranging of plans. It´s okay, though.. I learned on a trip to Bolivia two years ago the phrase "flop like a mop" because things on trips rarely go exactly as planned. So, luckily I have plenty of time and I am the one in charge, so whatever happens, happens, and there.

Third thing: All of the family came over again yesterday for a New Year´s lunch. We had every kind of seafood imaginable!!! Well, I don´t eat seafood... So my host mom looked at me and told me that I wasn´t going to eat before she started laughing and brought me my own little dish of canalones that we had made on Christmas and put in the freezer. The family all got there about 2 in the afternoon and we ate shortly after that. My host mom made a HUGE cheesecake and another lemon-cake that she makes sometimes. So after our tapas, huge meal, cava, and pineapple, she brought out the cakes. For some reason she things that I won´t take the food when it is just in the middle of the table (this is really because I haven´t been taking it because I´ve been so full!), so she has taken to putting five or six pieces of anything on my plate directly in front of me so that I´ll eat it. Needless to say, I was stuffed after the 2 straight hours of eating. I finally escaped to my room after Maria and Alida (two of the grandkids) drew pictures for me and then started to run around like crazy. Shortly after I went to my room and started reading, the buzzer rang. It was my host dad´s brother and sister-in-law. Then, the buzzer rang again and another couple came up! Our apartment was not made to hold 17 people... so I just stuck to my room with frequent visits from the grandkids. Finally, around 8:15 everyone had left, so I joined my host parents on the couch to watch the news. We just had yogurt and fruit for dinner, and then my host mom brought me a plate of two pieces of lemon cake and two of cheesecake... Harry Potter was on, so we watched that for a while and then I headed to bed.

Fourth thing: This is probably my last post for a while since I don´t know how much internet usage I´ll get at the hostels I´ll be staying at. I´ll try to update while I´m traveling as often as possible, but no promises. Meanwhile, I hope you all had a wonderful New Year´s celebration and haven´t given up on your resolutions yet!