Tortilla de alcochofas y pies de cerdo...

So my host mom has taken up a new pasttime... trying to trick me into eating seafood. She sort of succeeded (or thought she did) when I tried the crab spread she made the other day. I knew what it was I was trying, but thought I would just appease her and eat some of it. Afterwards, I did let her know that I didn´t like it. This is after trying about two weeks ago to make me eat pieces of crab on my salad. Again, I tried a piece of the crab and spit it out, reminding her that I don´t like seafood, and crab is no acception to that. So, the other night at dinner I was eating my salad and pondering what was on the plate in the middle of the table. My host mom turned to me and said "you´re going to like that!!" while pointing to the plate. I asked what it was and she just smiled and told me to try it first. This is how it always begins when I´m tricked into tasting the seafood and get sick later from it. So, after eating my salad, I had a piece of tortilla de alcochofas, which is pretty much an artichoke omelette. I have learned to like artichokes since being here, so that was no problem. After I finished chewing the tortilla, though, both my host parents were staring at me, waiting for me to try the mystery food. So I sort of awkwardly laughed, told them I was scared, but that I would try a small piece. So, my host mom cut me a piece and put it on my plate... I examined it for a moment or so before putting it in my mouth. EWWWW!!!!! That was the first reaction of my mouth because I felt like I had just put a firm piece of fat in to be chewed on.. I honestly can´t even remember the taste very much because I couldn´t get over the texture. So, needless to say, I told my host parents that I didn´t really like it and asked if they could finally tell me what it was that I just ate. Pigs feet. That´s right, I ate pigs feet... GROSS!!! Fun times once again in my apartment.

Besides the gross food at my table, there are a few other exciting things in my life right now. Today begins vacation for "semana santa" which means I don´t have class again until a week from this coming Tuesday or Wednesday... I´m not quite sure because I think there is some sort of university holiday on Tuesday the 25th, but one of my professors didn´t say anything about it, so I´ll probably still go and see if we have class. Kacie, from Manchester (who is studying in England this semester) is coming in tonight and I am meeting her at the airport. She is staying until Tuesday, and I am super super excited!!!! Wednesday and/or Thursday of next week I´ll probably be taking a day trip with Trisha to some of the cities in Spain that I have yet to visit even though I´ve lived here for over 6 months. And then on Friday, Trisha´s family comes in to visit for just over a week, so I´m going to help her play tour guide. I´m pretty excited about a relaxed break where I don´t really have to do anything if I don´t want to. After my January travels, I´m sort of travelled out. I am excited about my trip to Ireland in April, but until then, I think I´ll just stick to Spain.

And back to the apartment again.. Ana (the 11 month old grandbaby) has been with us since last Sunday, and the whole week before that, and a few days of the week before that. But, I think she is actually going home tonight and we might get a week break from babysitting during Semana Santa!! I really actually enjoy having the baby around, but sometimes it´s a little overwhelming... I mean, when I´m the one who is now giving her the bottle at night... well, that may mean she´s been there too long. It will be interesting to see how my host parents adjust back to their normal lives without the baby. My host mom was just telling me this morning that she is excited about being able to go to the gym in the mornings again and go on evening walks with my host dad in the evenings. So, hopefully they will get a rest next week during their vacation from taking care of the baby too!!

Alright, that´s it, I think. I´ll let you know if there are any more gross foods that I am tricked into eating in the next week...