Today I woke up very early. Pablo stopped by my house after hiking up a nearby mountain. Ryan was finishing off in the kitchen, so we waited for our turn to make breakfast. I had brought out all my yogurt and the lovely treats that Leo and I bought yesterday. I tried to make Pablo a quesadilla but of course I burned it (Just as I used to burn breakfast at Girl Guide camp). Pablo who is one of the kings of the kitchen and a champion of coconut rice sweetly insisted that he would have the burned quesadilla and that he likes it burnt. Pablo, instantly at home in the kitchen, made me a perfect quesadilla and proceeded to make am omelette. He took some ham, cut it into little pieces, and fried it in a pan. Then he put the beaten eggs (which I finished beating for him) into the frying pan. After he insisted that I finish my half of the food he put some yogurt in a bowl and put my berry granola cereal on top. It was delicious! We prepared my long-awaited instant coffee with my orange-flavoured sugar cane powder. It was orange coffee. I told him that was very Zoolander except it was hot instead of a frappucino and had no mocha. ;) Then we split the Chilean apple that Leo chose for me yesterday. Pablo said I can have an apple, yogurt with granola, and grapes for breakfast so I don't have to cook. Heh!
We then bussed to his house where I met his wonderful big family and his cousins. Pablo's sister made delicious strawberry smoothies for everybody. Pablo's brother and cousin were making these plastic chain bracelets that are the latest craze in town. The kids and I watched Shrek 2 in Spanish. Then Pablo and I went to Mass at Mayales Plaza. Erika, Andrea, and Andrea's cool Mom were there too.
Pablo's uncle then drove us back to Pablo's house where even more cousins stopped by. When we got in the door Pablo was very similar to a Spanish-language version of Tyrese from 2 Fast 2 Furious saying, "We huuungry." Pablo's Mom made us delicious chicken rice and Pablo's sister gave us iced tea (Iced tea and lemonade are very popular here). We watched a Simpsons Halloween marathon in Spanish. Pablo then took out his laptop, found a decent short version of the Colombian national anthem that I have to learn for work, and gave me some paper so I could write down the lyrics. He played the song a couple of times so I could follow along, then he played it slowly so I could listen closely to capture the pronunciation. Then he made me sing it over and over again. Pablo's bright little relative Daniel sat with us and sang along with me. He was my little guardian angel. He and Pablo are very good teachers. Daniel would follow along with the words and sing with me. I was able to get the tune then Pablo said I had to sing without the paper. Pablo's siblings and cousins sang with me. They gave a thumbs up and said I already know it. Pablo's cousin said I sing well. :)
Little Daniel asked me to teach him the Our Father and the Sign of the Cross in English. I wrote it down for him and his sister. Pablo's sister was determined to learn the Our Father. She sent me home with a bag of green oranges that she already peeled for me. Delicious!
We then all piled into Pablo's family's SUV and Pablo's older brother drove the cousins and I home.
I was ready to burst from happiness on the ride home as the mountains, tropical trees, and sunshine were so beautiful. Everything is beautiful here in its simplicity. Pablo's uncle rolled down his window and slowed down to drive alongside his buddy on the way back from the mall earlier. There was no traffic behind us so the guys just slowly drove alongside each other until they had to head in different directions. I was so amused and happy that people can do that kind of thing here. I'm loving this place.
I will meet at Juan Valdez (There's an actual Juan Valdez cafe!) at the mall with about 10 AIESEC friends tomorrow so that they can practice and learn more English. I am looking forward to it. There is a wealth of situations and items from which one can learn English in a mall - very NLP. :)
I am amazed that this town is full of people whose personalities and interests are like mine. :)
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