Ventas, Ronda, y mi Familia Fantastica

After one of the hardest school weeks of my life I am back to enjoying my exchange.  As any rebound without amnesia will tell you the first week of school is one of the most exhausting, confusing, and exciting experiences imaginable.  I came home for the first few days and couldn't think straight because I was focusing so hard.  It was totally worth it though, it has been fantastic for my Spanish and starting to make some friends.  More to come on that later though.


On Saturday my mother, sister, and I drove up in the mountains to have lunch in a venta with my grandmother and maternal aunts (restaurants located in the mountains, ones seaside are called chiringuitos.)  It was fantastic, I kinda feel like I've been part of this family for along time even in the short period of time I have been here.  Lunch took three hours, we started with a course of salad and something like tempura zucchini with local honey, then a course of local favorites from chorizo and a food kinda like rice made from bread crumbs, finally for desert I had chocolate mousse, and I don't regret a thing.

The view from the Venta

My Spanish family

Then on Sunday we took a trip to Ronda, to meet my dad's sister and see some of the historic city.  In ronda you can find one of Spains oldest and most famous bull fighting rinks, one of Ernest Hemingways houses, and famous river gorges and valleys; not to mention the historic buildings, winding roads and Spanish guitar that can be found all over Spain.  The other thing that can be found in Ronda is more great food, lunch on Sunday took an unprecidented four hours and four courses.  I thought we where going to have a light lunch of appetizers however after course one when they started to bring out a lot more food I started to realized how wrong I was.  First up was Tortilla Espanola, cheese, crackers, and olives.  Next we enjoyed one of the largest steaks I have yet dared to eat, salad, homeade frenchfries, and fresh baked bread(thats right my uncle is a baker.)  After that a course of chocolate, and just when I thought I couldnt eat any more a course of coffee and a light cake.   It was delicous, also making them some of the most wonderful people in the world my aunt and uncle gave to me a jar of peanut butter making me the luckiest and most enviable exchange student in the district.