This was pretty funny. So the church just got a new (used) drum set but they hadn’t gotten the sticks yet. So in desperation Ephraim (the pastor’s middle son) got some pencils to practice. When there’s a will there’s a way I guess J

 After church this last Sunday the pastor’s family graciously invited me to spend the rest of the day with them. I gladly accepted when they said Lunch was included in the deal and this shot was of their huge Siamese cat. You can’t really tell proportions here but this was one hefty feline.

 Ye-hah! It was like a chicken, rice, and garbanzo bean stew that was sooo fabulous. Oh man, okay so everything I said about Spaniards and food, I take it back. It all changes when in the home. The pastor’s family stuffed me and they kept on brining more and more food out to the table! First it was this dish, then a salad, then some cured ham, then some fruit, and then they asked me if I usually drank coffee after my meals and if they wanted to make me any. Haha, when the boys asked me if I wanted to go play soccer on the beach I was like, “how about we engage in that good ol’ Spanish tradition of the siesta right now.” ;-)

 Some cured pork. Heavenly stuff it is!

 Haha, and speaking of heavenly stuff, here is Rafael the oldest pastor’s son doing exactly what I was thinking. When they brought it out. 

 ¡Pruebalo señor!

 This was one of the fruits they brought out at the end. It’s called a cherimoya fruit, but there’s a double story here. The big joke was all the cow heart I’ve been eating because the stuff is dirt cheap here and tastes awesome. The Spanish don’t really eat the dish and they tease me constantly about it. So, when they saw this heart shaped fruit they were all like, “oh, this is so Nathan’s”!

 Fuzzy pic but Rafael did a number on his food as well and those are only peelings and remains on his plate.

 Oh, so I forgot to mention that the pastor’s family lives in a town about eight miles away called Rota. This is a shot from their window. They live super close to the beach as you can see. Pretty sweet location and view!

 Haha, Isaac is definitely a typical boy. He had a whole armory of airsoft guns and nerf guns in his room.

 Doing a bit of “digesten” after our lovely (and finally, finally, sizable) Spanish meal. This is the pastor and his wife.

 Haha, we were all going to head down to the beach and when we walked out into the hall in the apartment complex Missy their enormous kitty followed us out and plopped down in front of the elevator door. This cat has lived it’s entire life indoors minus a couple trips to the vet. A rough life indeed J

 Driving to the beach with the boys!

 Descending down to that blessed Spanish sand.

 The beaches here are so gorgeous and right now, because it’s the off season, they’re practically deserted.

 A beautiful sunset.

 Hahahaha, so get this, in order to help keep the elderly of the town in better shape they put these little pedal machines in front of the park benches in front of the beach. It’s really a great idea but when I first saw it I was like, “what in the world”?

Little lunar lander on the beach. It’s funny because right before seeing this the Pastor and I were talking about he thought the lunar landing might have been a hoax because the American flag was straight out. He was graciously saying he thought there was a possibility and I had heard the argument before but hadn’t really thought about it. Haha, I’m actually curious to look into it and see if they put a wire into the flag or what!

 Haha, yeah the European stereotype of mopeds is completely correct. We came up off the beach and there was this little moped group of four adolescents. I gotta say, I thought it was pretty funny when they “revved” up their little bikes like they were all that and took off with put-put. Haha, oh they’re so cool!

 Okay, so Spanish ice cream from the parlors is actually fantastic! The ice cream that I’ve bought at supermarkets had been garbage but this stuff is pretty awesome. I think Rafael’s agreeing with me on this one J

 Haha, Isaac’s such an awesome little guy (in the middle).

 The professor’s lounge busy with lunch activity. The guy on the right in the red shirt is named Paco and was actually quite the basketball star in college. I guess he competed in Germany and around Europe and sounded like he could consistently deliver a great performance.

 Hahaha, there is no end to the teasing I get for my “lunches.” Today I brought potatoes, yams, and beef stew chunks and they were all like, “there’s no way we could stomach such strong food like that this time of day.” Ah, my good ol’ American tummy!

 Oh yeah! Remember that “monster I drew on the board on the last post? Well when I showed up for class one of the students wanted to show me her drawing of it. Ah, the little artist has promise I do say!

 Here she be. Yep, pretty much encapsulates cuteness.

 Ah, one of my tutoring classes. Oh man, the guy in the middle and was friends with two other boys in the class and needless to say it kept me on my toes trying to keep them from talking. Whew, I was so drained after this hour and a half class. These little Spanish kids like their chatting!

This class was like the calm AFTER the storm. Ah, after all the younger kids left I got to work with a bit older crowd and thy were super interested in the States, the English language, and I guess me because they all friended me on Facebook after the class was over. This class is like the highlight of my week now!