Pescador de Hombres

       I feel like it's been forever since I've posted a blog. I've missed it! A lot has happened since Friday afternoon. Friday evening I met Natalie at the post office. We originally planned to meet at her bus stop which is about 20 minutes from my house. So I went there. Then she called me and asked where we were supposed to meet. She forgot. But it was no big deal because the exercise didn't hurt. So we sent our letters.  Happy Early Birthday Tess! We then walked to the nearest bus stop and caught a bus to Baranain, a suburb of the city. We were in search of Carrefour, a huge supermarket. Neither of us really knew where we were going but we ended up in the right place! Carrefour was only a short walk from the bus stop where we got off. We didn't have much time to spend in the store since we had to meet Natalie's host parents at the school in about 45 minutes. A frozen pizza, chocolate bar, .45 E roll of cookies, some butter, and food coloring later we were out of there. We only got to spend about 15 minutes in the store but it was amazing! We cannot wait to go back. It's cheap and they have everything. After making it back to the school we waited for Nat's parents and then rode home. We ate dinner at her house. We had Spanish Tortilla! It's a potato omelette that is popular all over Spain. That and futbol is about the only thing that every region have in common. After our delicious dinner Natalie and I watched some of The Rocky Horror Picture Show which is absolutely amazing. We only got see about 45 minutes of it though due to internet not wanting to cooperate. What's you deal Mr. Internet? Too much Tim Curry for you to handle? We made our frozen pizza after everyone went to sleep. We wanted to keep it a secret for some reason. Nat is throwing the box away some day this week when they aren't home. It's fun to be sneaky about things you really shouldn't have to be, right? I mean we laughed.
        Saturday morning we woke up and did just about nothing until Nat's host mom picked us up to go out to lunch. We went to an Italian restaurant near the school. We met the rest of the family there. What a great lunch. This was my first time really being at an actual sit down, order, bring food out restaurant. I ate something for an appetizer that was rice cooked in with pigs blood. Let me tell you, it was the best pigs blood I've ever had. Loved it. I ordered the pizza titled "Dulcinea" which means "sweet" in Spanish. My pizza had a really thin crust, raspberry sauce, cheese, and black little hockey-puck peppers on it. It was amazing! I ate a lot of it. I was proud of myself. I got really full at one point and told Nat and she turned to me and said, "You're American. You can do it." So I did. The conversation at dinner was excellent. They ask us so many questions about the U.S. and what we like and don't like. I'm so excited that I'll be staying with this family next! I offered to pay for lunch (it was pretty expensive) and Nat's host mom was appalled. Haha. She is so sweet!!!
        After lunch I walked home (they offered to drive me but I was only 15 minutes walking) and had a wonderful talk with Aunt Patty. I called her cell phone from my MacBook. It was great. And hours worth of talking cost me less than a dollar. And my phone call from Madrid for 15 minutes cost $50. C'mon. It was such a great talk though!! After the talk I bought The Rocky Horror Picture Show on iTunes because I loved the first 45 minutes so much. I then left the house at 8:30 to meet the Pamplonians in the city. What a night. There are just too many inside jokes and little crazy events that happened to explain here. We basically walked around and went to the park and then went to a bar and just danced. I had a pretty good time. Natalie spent the night at my house and we snacked and then she fell asleep right away. I thought I was tired but apparently not because I ended up watching the rest of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
        This morning Nat and I woke up and ate some Nougat Pillows for our very nutritional breakfast. We left together. She headed for her bus stop and I to church. I love going to church here. It's very short though. I was the youngest one in mass today. Haha. You don't see any groups of people...unless 2 counts as a group. I had yet another breakdown in church. They played the song "Lord, You Have Come to the Sea Shore" but in Spanish: Pescador de Hombres. This song reminds me so much of my Grandma Toussant and I just could not stop crying. It was right before communion so I looked a mess and then I sat back down and just cried. I took my time leaving.
         When I returned home I talked to my mom and Brandi and helped Brandi out with some school work. I'm glad I can still help from all the was over here! I skyped with Korey, Katie, Emily, Abbie, Aunt Barbie, and Uncle Dana. It was great! I got to speak to Katie the longest. It was great! This is your shout out Katie Lynn-I LOVE YOU KATIE BOP! -Love, Alice Palace. (Inside joke...about a time machine believe it or not). I had dinner: salad. Look out! It was good though. I've been on the computer since dinner catching up on here and facebook. I was chatting with Abbie on facebook and she asked me if she could send me her memoir. Of course I said yes! I read it and wanted to cry and smile and laugh at the same time. Smiling won. Thankfully. But I just read the most gorgeous thing. Abbie wrote about her home. Her home is made up of the people...Katie, Emily, Brandi, and myself. It's funny because I was just helping Brandi with an English paper today about "home." It really puts things into perspective when you're across the ocean. To Emily, Katie, Abbie, Brandi: I love you four with all of my heart and more. We are cousins, sisters, best friends until the end. We have a a never ending "to-do" list ahead of us. Abbie said we're starting ASAP. I'm in. Oh, and to our parents who let us do crazy things...I mentioned the time machine? :)
            It's definitely time for me to read Abbie's paper five more times and then go to sleep. Congrats Dukes! I was so excited on Saturday morning to open my email and read the good news! Here's to another great week everyone! Besos. Os quiero.

Tabs (Tabea) from Germany and Natalie from Memphis!