New pants for Luis

That's right, yesterday Luis finally changed out of his green pair of slacks and into a pair of navy blue. This is big. How big? Quite possibly earth-shattering. Cranky old Luis has literally worn the exact same pair of army green pants every single day since we arrived to Spain. The same lingering stains around the right front pocket are proof enough that they are never washed either. If I hadn't already seen him in his cucumber green cotton pajama set, I'd say he probably sleeps in these pants too. The pants change was so big in fact that as soon as he walked into the sun room for siesta yesterday, Allison turned to me (already having noticed the occurrence) and all she had to say was "pants."

I'm really going to miss being able to talk about people two feet away from me without them having a clue. My friends and I do this all the time on the street too. "Oh man, check out that mullet!" or "I really wish this guy would walk faster or move to the left." Let's hope I just don't forget and make this mistake when I return to the US.

Madre, however, completely disregards this rule, openly speaking about surrounding people (well, mainly just about Luis), who of course CAN understand her. Nearly everyday at lunch, madre feels compelled to tell us about things she likes, but her husband doesn't. "A mi me gusta mucho esta pasta y este tipo de pescado pero a mi marido no." or "A mi me gusta bailar y ir al cine, pero a mi marido no." ("I really like this pasta and this kind of fish, but my husband doesn't." or "I love to go dancing and to the movies, but my husband doesn't." I never know what to say...perhaps in her old age she has forgotten that the man she speaks of is sitting right next to her? I think she may be trying to send him subliminal messages, which I really can't blame the woman for. I'd probably be openly gossiping about him too if I had to make him a completely separate meal attuned to his particular taste buds and mood each day. 

In other news, I've decided to make a running list of things I'll miss about Spain since I've already created one for those I miss about home. 

Here are a few I've thought of so far:

-Smelling like an ashtray every time I leave a cafe, restaurant, bar, or any public, confined place

-Spanish time (hope I don't get any professors at JMU next semester that lock the door when class begins)

-A madre who makes my bed, cooks every meal for me, does my dishes, laundry, etc. (you have some big shoes to fill this summer, USA mom)

-A real night life (JMU apartment parties seem pretty depressing now) and the fact that alcohol is cheaper than water here...this will probably never make sense to me

-Being able to gossip about an unsuspecting person inches away

-My walk to class

-Siesta

-The FOOD, cafe con leche, Pans, etc.

-The double kiss greeting

-The cat calls (haha jk)

-The fashion

-Sharing randy (nutella) and an apple every night with Allison

Ahh there are so many more, but this is a good start. 

This morning in Independent Study we were discussing the theme of prohibited love in the novel we're reading (Como Agua Para Chocolate). Alex was explaining her point, using a character named Jose as an example. But she didn't say Jose; she said Javier. This immediately set me off into one of my laughing attacks because while there is NO such character in the book, Javier is also the name of our beautiful Intensivo teacher. He had Alex's heart and mine at "Hola." Naturally, our professor knows Javier and this set him off into a laughing fit of his own until he finished our session with, "Pues, alguno comentario mas sobre el amor prohibido...o sobre Javier?" ("So, any more comments about prohibited love...or about Javier?") 

Maybe you had to be there.