Feliz Pascua

=Happy Easter

Woke up quite late on Sunday--around 1:30pm. Lord knows how that happened. I made myself a piece of toast and retreated to the living room to work on my Amsterdam blogs (yes, as you can tell, it took forever). The doorbell rang, Maruja wasn't home, so I had to answer it, bra-less, in my pj's, glasses, smeared makeup, and morning breath. I figured it'd be a package or something, but I opened the door to see Juan, Maruja's son, and his 5 infamous daughters fresh out of Easter mass. He said that they'd wait for Maruja to come home. I quickly went to my room, put on some clothes, cleaned up a bit and vowed not to breathe on anyone. I sat with all of the girls on the couch and watched a kids' talk show with an adult host which is basically the Spanish "Kids Say the Darndest Things". Soon Maruja came home from mass and was in high spirits. Maruja had been in a great mood all throughout Semana Santa, but she was in an exceptionally good mood on Sunday. I guess Jesus' resurrection just has that effect on people. But really, Maruja is so so so religious I think that a whole week devoted to praying just puts her in a great mood. Speaking of praying, I had completely forgotten that it was Passover that week. I swear, being in Spain has turned me into a quasi-Catholic. I was aware of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and I'm all geared up for Corpus Christi, woohoo! Oh wow; Jesus, I tell ya. Turns out it was Fatima's (the oldest daughter) 8th birthday and Maruja had made her a tarta (cake)...the same tarta Stacey, Maria del Mar, and I had on our birthdays. I wished Fatima a very happy birthday. Soon they left and I finished up some of my blog. Stacey left--she had so much to do that she decided to just camp out by the river all day and not eat any meals at home. So Maruja and I ate just the two of us. Lunch was pretty basic but quite good and extremely filling. She made penne pasta sauteed with canned tuna fish and then simple tomato sauce on top. It sounds weird, but it was really good and really filling. I plan on putting tuna in my spaghetti in the States now! On the side we had a green salad AND a whole bunch of shellfish croquetas. I like croquetas, but not enough to eat more than 3. Well we both had 6. That was not too fun. And I had to eat them fast. Blah. For dessert we had a whole kiwi each. After lunch I walked to meet up with Stacey at the river. It was hot and the sun was really strong so I bought a huge water bottle and sat with Stacey on one of the benches. The sun was so strong and I was already pretty tan I didn't want to get burnt and I didn't have sunblock so it was a challenge reading and studying whilst trying to shield myself. I ended up with a mild sunburn on my right arm in the end from writing notes. Oh well. The whole time at the river I studied the second chapter of my art history book; it was all about Ancient Greek art which was pretty interesting. It took me from 3pm till 8pm to read and take notes on the entire chapter. I was also distracted many a time--Melissa showed up to meet with us and study for a couple hours. Stacey left a bit before Melissa to go to an internet cafe (damn our internet for being out that weekend). Melissa left around 7 and I was all alone in the nice Sevilla sun soaking it all in. It was Easter so there were tons of people out and about all dressed up in their Sunday's best. Good times in the Sevilla. Soon a group of Spanish students sat next to me, many of which were quite attractive. They didn't have an Andalusian accent so I'm wondering where they're from. Maybe central Spain? Who knows. The guys were pretty cute which makes sense if they're not from Sevilla. Sevilla boys are sleazy and have mullets. Yuck. At 8 I walked back home, worked on my Amsterdam blog for awhile until dinner. Stacey wasn't eating at home so it was just Maruja and me. Lucky for Stacey she missed this dinner because we had her least favorite: salchichas (hot dogs w/o bun)...3 each (as per usual)! Pureed potatoes, green salad (which was not very good, I think she forgot to put vinegar on it), and a banana just for me for dessert (Maruja wasn't eating dessert). Although simple and not great, I found the meal pretty satisfying and didn't have any complaints about. Besides, Maruja had a fully-packed Catholic day. I asked her about la misa de pascua (Easter Mass) and she said that it was great, that the church was gorgeously decorated with many, many flowers. Also, Stacey told Maruja that she wasn't eating at home but she ended up coming home around dinner time and just hanging out in the room. Maruja asked me what Stacey was doing and I had to kind of cover for her