I am very happy that this study abroad trip uses a homestay. So far it´s been one of the best parts of Spain. The homestay lets you become part of Spanish culture, instead of observing from the sidelines. Since you will probably never have the opportunity to meet Mama Carmen, I thought I should tell you a little bit about my awesome host mother.
She is the Spanish Betty White – On Sunday, we were watching the Spanish version of The Proposal. Every time the grandma, Betty White´s character, would come on the screen, she would get super excited. She would clap her hands and say, ¨me encanta.¨She loves The Proposal. When Betty White came on the screen and would do something funny, she would tell Marissa, ¨¡La abuela como yo!¨ Which basically means that she is Betty White.
She is the Grandma figure – Coming to Spain, I knew not to be ignorant enough to think Spain would be like all of the other Spanish speaking countries. However, there is one cultural simiarity that really surprised me. There was a giant bouquet of flowers left over from a wedding at church, and she went to the bouquet after mass and picked herself some flowers. If you´ve ever been to a cross cultural wedding, you know the funny part at the end where half of the ladies grab the center pieces to take home, and the other half stare at them like they are stealing. This instance really reminded me of that.
She´s a true sister – She made her brother help me with my Spanish homework, and then grabbed it from him to prove that she knew it better.
She has so many nieces and nephews – From the stories, there´s got to be hundereds.
She loves babies – This is a very improtant fact about her. She stops to look at baby clothes in store windows, gets excited about babies on TV, and loves her neighbors babies. The other day, we got home and she was knitting baby sweaters with her friend, for a baby who is not even born yet. This is something we bond over as a house, because babies are adorable.
She explains current events to us – When the king abdicated the throne, she told us about the monarchy. It was nice to hear the precpective of a local, rather than just reading about it in the news.
She loves Barack Obama and Papa Fransisco – She is a big fan of both the Pope and the President of the U.S.
Nothing phases her – Because Carmencita is a rockstar.