9 Febrero: I ate a mushroom today

Hola! So, I don't have much to say because life has been pretty normal lately. We're beginning to settle into a rhythm and the newness has begun to wear off. I realized that this whole thing has felt like a vacation so far, and it's been about two weeks, so the reality that this isn't just a "trip" has started to sink in.

The only big news from today is that..... I ate a mushroom. Yup. The whole thing. I know you are really proud of me. Here's how it came about:

So, I told Teresa and Leondro that I pretty much like all vegetables except mushrooms, and apparently Leondro took it as a challenge. He told me that I'd never eaten his mushrooms and that some day he would make them for us. Soooo today, after we walked home from school, we downed some vegetable puree (delicious) and then came the sketchy stuff: first, some straaaaange looking meat and then a plate of mushrooms. I was very nervous, but they told us to try everything and if we didn't like it, we didn't have to eat it. Luckily, they also brought out potatoes (fried, mashed, covered in olive oil and garlic) and lots of pan (bread) per usual, so I knew I'd be full.

Anyways. The meat was disgusting and I could barely even swallow the bite that I took but! I tried the mushroom! Its little hole thingy on the bottom (haha) was full of garlic and perejil (parsley) and olive oil. Leondro told me to eat it with the potatoes [thank goodness] and por eso (so), I did! And I ate the whole thing. Good job, self.

Then, he gave us cherries that had been soaking in brandy for 3 years. They were really strong. Then, he asked us if we were planning on napping, which we totally were, and he took out these really old beautiful shot glasses that belonged to Teresa's great-grandpa (or something like that) and some small bottle of liquor that was made out of something that starts with an "m" (Yeah, I should really bring a notebook to meals to take notes). It was actually really sweet and delicious.

Then I napped for two hours haha. It was glorious.

In the evening, she made us poleo (her cure-all tea) and talked to us for hours, started to teach us how to knit and let us help with dinner- which was delicious today! All things we've had before. It was an awesome evening. I look forward to spending large parts of the weekend in with Teresa. She is going to continue to teach us to knit and we're going to do mud masks!

Tomorrow our group is going to Mérida: the capital of Extremadura and an old Roman city! We learned all about it in class yesterday and I am excited to see it tomorrow... I'll try to take lots of pictures!

Thanks to God for:
-good weather
-beautiful parks
-good friends at home and
-new friends here who I can go to when I have problems
-beautiful views and fresh air to alleviate stress
-chocolate and coffee and
-lots of pan
-our sweet family
-how comfortable I feel here in Cáceres

Hablamos pronto!