Mi Familia!

Okay, so I've been living with my family for about five days now. Sorry I didn't post anything about them earlier, but in my brother's words, "Bolivia es le strange" and I don't understand it yet. So apparently my internet cafe was closed on the weekend, so I went to go find another one, but the USB ports didn't work. So I found another one, and it didn't understand my camera, and I just decided it wasn't meant to be. Anyways, allow me to introduce you to my Bolivian family!

First of all, we have the grandma, Fanny. She is so matronly it's incredible, she insists on taking the bus with me if I have to go somewhere I haven't been before, just so I don't get lost. And if I don't like some food, she'll offer to make something different for me right then and there. (No mom, I don't actually take her up on it. Yes mom, I'm being a good girl and eating what's being put in front of me.) She also wants me to get a cell phone so that in case I'm lost, she can come and rescue me. So sweet.

Next is Jaime (pronounced Hi-may), the grandpa, who I haven't gotten to know very well yet but he's pretty funny, I think. Or at least he would be if I understood him. He's a biochemist, I think, so he's at work a lot.

Then we have Karin, my "sister." She's an architect and she's really cool. She introduced me to a bunch of her friends and we played pictionary together, which was really weird at first cuz I had no idea how to guess "square" in Spanish, but I ended up doing pretty well. Who would have known that "water polo" was the same in Spanish and English? We played guys against girls, and whoever lost had to buy movie tickets for the winners - we're going to see Las Tortugas Ninja! Karin works really close to my work, so we're going to have lunch together and go to work together and things like that.

Finally, there's Laurita, who is adorable. She's Karin's daughter, six years old and in kindergarden. She calls me "Tia" (which means Auntie) and always wants to play with me and she's just so cute!

As for the house that I'm living in, it's actually very nice (I was quite surprised, I was expecting to be living in the slums). They have a computer (which I haven't seen on yet, but apparently it's for Karin's work) and a lot of movies, so I've been watching Disney in Spanish with Laurita and trying to figure out what they're saying.

So overall, I'm very well taken care of, I have a nice family who has definitely adopted me. They loved the gifts I brought (mostly a photo tour of Toronto and a stuffed moose and generally everything's pretty good!