Cookies, Crafts, and Culinary Experiences

Day 16: Day of Dancing

After school, I went with my host mother and kids to one of their friends house. They practice Sevillanas weekly, but this week we took a detour and I taught them the electric slide. It was so much fun! Of course the girls were doing it in the traditional dress for the Sevillanas. They wear really beautiful dresses with lots of ruffles. These dresses are typically custom made. You go to a shop to pick out the pattern and the fabric, then they make the dress. An adult dress usually costs around 500-600 euros. However, you can get a cheap one for 250 euros.

Day 17: Bible Study

The church where we studied tonight. I have this neat app on my iPad called Word Lens that helps translate the powerpoint which has been great.  

After Bible study!

Day 18: Eating at a local favorite

They are famous for their potatoes. 

Bar Tomas

Then I took a nice stroll with Rachel on our lunch break to burn off some of that food. It was delicious by heavy! Whew!

When I got home from school, I taught the girls how to make homemade cookies. They were a little different from the ones I make at home because the brown sugar isn't pack-able, the baking soda is slightly saltier, and there was no vanilla; however, they turned out well. It was an adventure to adapt an American recipe to the ingredients and the appliances available here.

Proud of our cookies.

After making cookies, Edu and Sara took me and Oscar to eat Japanese food. The restaurant is very popular but as you see here...it looks empty. That is because it is only 8:30 and when you eat out it is unusual to go before 9 or 9:30.

Luckily I had two Spanish speakers and frequent Japanese connoisseurs to order for me. 

Watching them prepare the sushi with Oscar.

Some of the many dishes we ordered. I think the salmon sushi was my favorite, but it was all good. I can't believe I like sushi. 

Yum...we also had desert which was equally as delicious. It was great to go out with the "older" part of my host family. They have really been too kind. I couldn't have asked for a better family to stay with.

After eating, we took a drive around Barcelona. Barceona is absolutely beautiful at night. There are some spots I would like to revisit on a clearer night. I don't have many pictures since the rain didn't allow for very good photography.

Day 19: R&R

Today it rained almost all day. We took a short walk in L'illa and got ingredients for a dinner I am cooking this week, but the remainder of the day was spent at home. I spent the afternoon applying for teaching jobs and researching places to visit while my mother and I are in Ireland. I feel so disconnected from the real-world here in Barcelona...like my life is on hold for a month while I am immersed in another culture. However, it is at times like these when I realize that I have responsibilities and a life I need to return to when I get home. Deadlines are approaching and things must be done even if I am in Spain. 

We also had a very crafty day:

They loved the cookies so much, the boys wanted to help make some more today.

We made candy roses.

They look delicious!

Then we made tissue paper flowers that are often used for decorations here.

Tada!

It was great to have some down time, but today I realized just how few days I have left and how many more things I want to do in Barcelona. The time has gone so quickly...only one full week left at CRMSI.