Una Semana (One Week)

I have been here for one week today and I have made several observations:
Elevators are not automatic, and they have doors:


To flush a toilet, one must press a button and not a handle:



Also, these are very common:

and I have been told that they are butt-washing devices haha. A bidet, I think? lol


I have been having problems with my internet at my house and the hours of the internet cafes are sometimes hard to work with, so I haven't been able to post in a while. It is working now and I also found a bar right down the street that I sit at and drink coffee and skype. It's great.

I live in a neighborhood called Barrio de Santa Cruz and it is beautiful. It is right down the road from Catedral Giraldo! That Cathedral is my favorite building here! I can't even capture all of it in a picture, but here are some attempts:







Our house has 3 floors and a roof, and my roommate and I supposedly have the first floor all to ourselves. (but our senora's husband, Pepe, comes down here when he smokes...which is always haha) It is a little awkward because the living room, kitchen, and our senora's room are on the second floor, so we have to make the effort to talk to her. Sometimes she is not in the mood to talk, so we are still trying to figure her out. We definitely had some miscommunications at first, but we are hoping that the situation will get better soon. This is our room:


and our house:


I love the Spanish lifestyle. The hours are very different here. People stay up much later and are much more laid back and family oriented. In our first meeting, they told us that Spanish people utilize all 24 hours of the day: 8 for sleeping, 8 for working, and 8 for living. Their motto is that they work to live. Every day from 2-5, the kids come home from school and the adults come home from work and everyone eats lunch together. In my house, my senora's son and 2 grandchildren come over every day. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. Spaniards typically don't eat dinner until 9 or 10. My senora doesn't cook us dinner because she works so hard to prepare lunch, so Kellsey and I have been trying out the restaurants. We had our first tapas the other night:


They were delicious. Tapas are like appetizers; they are just smaller portions of regular food on the menu. We had one of quiche, one of lasagne, and one of chicken with sesame sauce. They are fun and allow us to try lots of new things. I hope American restaurants pick up on the concept!

Lots of other things have happened and I will try to post more frequently so I can write about all of them in the future. Hasta luego!!

The earth is filled with your love, O LORD;
teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:64