Mi Casa es Su Casa

Feature photo is a picture of what tapas time looks like when the extended family comes over!

After a few days of relaxing, getting to know my family better and trying to find my way around Cáceres, I have started to get very acclimated to my surroundings!

For those who were wondering where I was living, I asked my madre (my host mom), Teresa, if I could post some photos of the apartment and she said yes! I would have shared a few of my padre, Leandro, too, but he was out for the afternoon.

I am very fortunate to have been placed in an apartment with two of the kindest people and in a quite, residential area very close to everything.

 

Teresa is a wonderful cook and very good at making sure I am comfortable! She said she wants to teach me how to cook a tortilla española (which was accomplished later in the semester: read here).

Her husband, Leandro, is a retired police officer. His favorite pastime is telling jokes at the dinner table (that Teresa has to explain to me later). He is very adamant in that I travel in Spain as much as I can because it is such a beautiful country and he doesn’t want me to miss out on it. I completely agree.

 

 

 

And, their house, which is my house until May 8th:

 

 

This is the entry to the house. I think what I like best about it is all of the items that they have collected over the years from different places and generations. The clock on the wall belonged to Teresa’s grandmother and the chairs to her mother. Teresa explained that she used to read in them as a child. The plates on the wall are from Melilla, Africa (a Spanish colony) where they lived for a time. Everything is so cozy and eclectic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kitchen is Teresa’s domain and we eat in the dining room. This room doubles as a laundry room with a washing machine, but it is very rare for a Spanish household to have a dryer. I just always have to make sure that I ask for my clothes to be washed in time to be dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the dining room, and in order to fit three people at the table, we pull it out and fit another chair behind. Most Spanish households have only floor tiles, it is rare to see carpeting or hardwood floors. This is to keep the homes cool in the summer when most of them don’t have air conditioning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The living room is mostly used by Leandro during siesta for a quick nap, and by everyone after dinner to watch TV. It is very spacious and comfortable. Past the curtains is the sun room. The shelves in the living room are full of gifts brought by students who have stayed with them, or little trinkets that they or their two daughters picked up while traveling. It is like a museum to look through the shelves and ask questions about where each item is from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my bedroom! The beds are perfect for my height since they are so short, which is the reason they can’t host boys, actually. The flat has three bedrooms altogether, but one is used as an office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it is easy to see that I have found quite a nice temporary home here! It is fun to walk around and see the photos of the other girls who they have hosted, they are so fond of all of them and love to tell stories. I couldn’t have asked for a better family to live with!