Starting to pick up

Yesterday was my day to catch up on things. I got to sleep in, have a few great conversations with friends from home, and do some cleaning. Class was pretty intersting becuase we got to just ask her questions we had about spanish: which verbs to use, how to act in certain situations, how and when to use tenses- things like that. Very helpful. After class we had Tango. It wasn't quite as bad as the last class becasue we did a few new moves that were fun, but it is still impossible to understand the teacher. Each week is a bit better.

After class we found a place to rent videos which is very exciting. It is really helpful to watch a movie in english with spanish subtitle, and like everything else in this country- it is super cheap. When I got home I was greeted by my whole family, my grandparents, Willy and his daughter, and Raquel. (Raquel is another student here from Clemson whose host family are the parents of my mom, so simply put, they are my grandparents and Raquel is my cousin- more or less) Anyways, the party was for my sister Candi's birthday and it was exactly the traditional spanish fiesta you would imagine. Everyone was loud, unorderly, and amazing. I love it when everyone gets togeher because I love to see the family dynamics. Willy barbequed (here they say asado) and the food was amazing. We had veggies, meat, meat, and more meat. Eveytime I thought we were finished WIlly would bring the next round  in from the asado and I didnt want to be rude so I would take the smallest piece I could find. So. much food. But is was delicious. I've said it before, but this family is amazing.
I feel so blessed to be a part of it. It was also great to have Raquel there because we would speak in english a tad bit when things got really awkward and we had no idea what was going on. We waited til midnight and then sang happy birthday to Candi. Right when I finished my piece of cake they tried to offer me more- I've decided that my mom is determied to make me fat. haha
It was a great night.

Mi familia!!

(my sister marti, a bit camera shy which is weird because everyone here LOVES pictures)

birthday girl Candi. 14 years young :)