Mi Familia Española

When picking a study abroad program, most people are either really turned on or really turned off by the idea of living with a family. Personally, I was pretty indifferent, but now that I'm in Madrid, I cannot imagine study abroad without my host 'rents. Seriously.

I remember meeting with my study abroad director and going over my housing questionnaire with her, which I filled out in a moment of complete study/sleep depravation delirium while fantasizing my future abroad and romanticizing the host family experience. I wrote something along the lines of, "And I imagine us going to church together and them being very understanding of all of the changes and things I'm going through while in Madrid." I know, I'm adorable. Surprisingly, upon reading my romanticized description, Susan Sanchez Casal did not laugh. She did not mock. She understood exactly what I meant and worked with it.

Then we were placed in families. And I found out about mine earlier because my busybody mom just HAD to email the program and find out early... And they looked fine. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of them and figured they'd be alright. Once in Spain, my Spanish orientation guide/buddy jokingly teased that I'd be living with the swankiest of Madrileños after I told him where I'd be living. And I panicked. Swanky = stuffy, in my book. And... well, I'm not stuffy at all. I'm bubbly, silly, out there, happy... I wanted to be buddies with my family! I didn't want anyone super serious! But my guide assured me that just because they were swanky didn't mean that they'd be stuffy--it's not like that in Spain, he said. 

So I waited for them to pick me up, frantically repeating the words "BEST FRIENDS BEST FRIENDS" in my head, like a mantra. Two seconds later they were here. An older couple with a big smile and fantastic accents. They fed me bollos (SWEET ROLLS YUM) and cafe con leche. I won't lie, things were a bit awkward at first. Then came la cena--dinner.

I don't know if you know, but I'm a HUGE food lover. So when they whipped out cheese, wine, and chorizo, I nearly died. It turns out, my host parents are foodies too! We spent the rest of the evening dicsussing food, politics, our experiences... During orientation, we were warned of the "sobremesa," a Spanish tradition where after dinner you sit around talking, but I didn't expect it to be awesome! Two, three hours after dinner we were still sitting around the table and none of us wanted to leave! 

I've been here for six days now and my family and barrio are two of my favorite things about Madrid. I've never missed cena/sobremesa and would rather be late for the nights debauchery than cut the conversation short. I LOVE my host mom and dad, and have even taken to calling them "my parents" in front of the people in my program, a habit that confuses my friends a lot. They call me "Vero," just like my real parents!, and we are all so comfortable around each other that they break my bread at dinner with their hand instead of with a knife--in Spanish culture, you break off pieces of bread with your hand, but they're used to their exchange students being freaked out by that so they didn't at first! 

Every night I learn something new from my host parents. They are so intelligent and wise and fun... And because I'm from Peru, we have a lot of cultural things in common--from our sayings to our food and history. And when we don't, we discuss the differences. In the week that I've lived with them, I feel that we've reached a beautiful balance between caring real parents and host parents that I did not expect when I arrived in Spain. They know I'll be going out so my host mom shows me how to get back from the clubs and bars and even gives me brightly-lit landmarks as pointers so I won't get lost coming back in the dark while my host dad always tells me, in that typical dad voice filled with caring and concern, to have fun but be careful--and if he thinks I'm getting sick, he tells me to come back early so I can get more sleep! 

My host family is a huge reason as to why I feel so at home in Spain. I absolutely love it here and feel like I'm growing by leaps and bounds--and it's only been six days! Needless to say, my host family doesn't replace my real family AT ALL (me escuchaste, mami!?), I still miss my mami dearly and wish she was here every time I bop around the city listening to 80's Spanish music that we used to listen to together in Lima. Yet that missing isn't extreme--it's healthy. And I know that's all my host mom and dad's doing :)