Meet the family

27 October, 2008

Saturday the family came over for lunch to celebrate the birthday of one of MariCarmen and Pepe's sons (his birthday was actually last weekend, but the family get-together was this weekend). By "the family" I mean the three sons, one of the two daughters, two spouses, one granddaughter, and one person I couldn't quite place. So with a crowded table of 11, that still wasn't even the whole family. And everyone lives within a half-hour drive of each other. Well, half-hour is pushing it...20 minutes might be more accurate.

Spaniards are known for being a bit, erm, enthusiastic during conversations. Especially ones that take place at the table. Raised voices are normal, as are fists being pounded on tables, fingers being pointed emphatically, and friendly insults being exchanged. So I wasn't particularly thrown off when people started getting louder and the topic turned to local politics. But the next thing I knew, the topic had changed at least three different times without warning, I was thoroughly lost as to the new theme of conversation, and one of the brothers was out and out shouting. To the point that people were telling him to be quiet and that he was scaring María. María, the adorable 3-year-old granddaughter who I am in love with, and I sat there eating and saying nothing. Well, she was saying things but they were more along the lines of "ouch, the soup is too hot" rather than brilliant political commentary. Occasionally she would cover her ears and sit there until someone noticed and told the brother to quiet down. Meanwhile her father and I exchanged rolled eyes over how ridiculous the family was. He is definitely my second-favorite member of the family (to be fair, it's hard to beat a 3 year-old). In any event, lunch continued like that for a while, fancy pastries were brought out in lieu of birthday cake (I have no idea if that's normal, if it's because his actual birthday had been the week before, or if it's because two of the family members are allergic to gluten), and María and I snuck off to the living room to color.

Sunday I went on a hike with my host parents and with María and her parents. They love hiking and have both spent summers patrolling the mountain for fires, María definitely likes hiking more than any other 3 year-old I have ever met (which admittedly is not a large number), and MariCarmen and Pepe are at the border between their 60s and 70s and limit their city excursions to flat or downhill with the bus for the return uphill. I was definitely curious about how the morning would go. The hike was just a slow meander downhill for an hour or so and then a break for a snack, but it was great to get outside again and be surrounded by pine trees and mountain air. Pepe can be very headstrong and machisto, so when it came time to split up and have some people go straight and some people go uphill to get the cars, it was Miguel, Pepe, and myself who went uphill. This resulted in plenty of time for Miguel and I to chat about good hikes in the area and also plenty of time to worry about the fact the Pepe was not doing so well with that hill. But eventually we all made it back to the cars, picked up the others, and went our separate ways.

Up next: Lani and her real family do Sevilla. Get juiced.