Day 3

Today was the first day the family went to school and work. However, the girls both had fevers and stayed home. I met Dana, the housekeeper, who is here every day from 8:30-5. She is from Romania, super nice, she came to work in Spain on her own a year and a half ago and didn’t know Spanish until she got here. It was way nice to talk to her as she relates to my situation, knowing little Spanish, and no one outside the recently-met family. I watched some cartoons with the sick little girls then spent about 4 hours exploring Pozuelo de Alarcon. I attempted to buy an Abono pass. Good thing is that I still qualify for a youth pass which is quite a bit cheaper, however, it’s a big ordeal. I had to bring my passport, and a copy of my passport, as well as a passport photo for the pass, and I have to wait 20 days now for the card to be ready. So I will only be using that pass for my last month here, and now just have to buy 1 or 10 passes at a time. The public transportation system is much more complicated than the Valleymetro in Phoenix that I am used to.

Pozuelo is beautiful, but I get confused since all the roads are so curvy and seem circular, I am always lost. One lady approached me and asked where a certain street I was. Of course, I had no idea, I pulled out a map that I had bought earlier and pointed the street out to her, even after seeing it on a map, I still wasn’t sure which way it was. Luckily she did. Just when I thought I had ventured out pretty far, and was getting lost, I look up and am right next to the piso, on the opposite side that I would have thought. Ay. I returned when it started raining and Dana pretty much force-fed me lunch. Dana and the family all say that I eat too little. I’m pretty sure I eat as much as they do, but whatever, maybe with all the nerves I am eating less than I normally do.

The rest of the day was pretty emotional as Carlos, the father, is being deported to Afghanistan tomorrow. Of course it’s harder on the family than me, but I didn’t like saying goodbye. Out of anyone, he has definitely done the most to make me feel a part of the family and has gently encouraged me to overcome my shyness and be proactive and comfortable with the family. Not to mention, he speaks the best English which made things much easier for me. Now the real work and reason why I came to this family begins.