Hi everyone, I just came back from Escorial. i went with the family to Escorial for the weekend. it is a another small town located about half an hour from here. we went there to visit the grandparents and uncles of the famiy i live with. there is not much in the town a few shops, a small plaza and a church. when we got there the family showed me the shops in town: fruteria, carneceria, and mercadona (the supermarket). There is also a really nice monastery that we might go up to see next time we are there. We had a really big Spanish lunch with the extended family of the family i live with. There were various types of meat such as: morcilla ( rice with meat) chistorra ( like chorrizo from pig) chuletas de cordero ( lamb )y panceta ( pig) . We also had flan de coco (coconut flan), higos (figs), pasteles (mini-cakes), una ensalada (salad), and jamon (ham). Also as is traditional for a spanish lunch (comida) the adults had a lot to drink. they had everything from whisky, whine, beer, and cognac. the meal lasted for at least 3 hours. apparently lunch is the most important meal of the day in spain. after the meal we played dominos in pairs of two's, angela´s aunt cut her hair, and a couple of others watched tv. after the domino´s game we went downstairs to a small pool, where only the grandchildren swam as the other adults and myself included watched and sunbathed. i have definatly gotten a bit tanned here and also a bit sunburned. even if i put sunblock 50 i still get burned sometimes, the sun here is a lot stronger then in the united states. it was a fun weekend to Escorial. i got to meet the extended family, do gymnastics with the kids in the town plaza, visit some shops, and rest a lot.
hasta el proximo
- Neta