La Playa

My first weekend in Jerez has come and gone and it was a really relaxing one. 
Friday night, the whole family relaxed and we went into the center of town to have tapas for dinner. The center was packed with families, sitting and sipping wine, children playing in the streets and vendors selling different foods from their booths. We went to 2 different tapas places and I tried some of the local fare. My host father was eating one of his favorite tapas and he offered me a bite. I like to try everything once, so I accepted the bite. The food was weird looking beige roundish objects with thin red lines on them. They tasted quite fishy and had a really weird texture like big grains of sand on my tongue. After choking it down, my host mother told me that they were testicles of a certain kind of fish. Wonderful.

On Saturday, we went to the family's beach house, which was absolutely beautiful. The beach house is about a 20 minute drive from the house in the city and the walk to the beach from the beach house is about 15 minutes (although with the girls, it takes quite a bit longer!)

The girls strapped their rollerblades onto their feet and we walked down to the shore, taking the long route so that I could see a little bit of the town. We walked by some of the most beautiful mansions and through tree lined neighborhoods. The beach itself was  a little short on sand and my parents told me that this was because this has been the worst year for storms and the sea has moved way up the shore. Kind of scary. The beach was beautiful though, and we strolled along for a while.

We made it back to the beach house and after lunch, everyone laid down for a siesta. I laid on a blanket with the girls in the front lawn for a while, but I could feel myself becoming sunburned and went inside for a nap presently.

We left the beach house in the evening and headed home. It was Saturday night and the parents and oldest girl went to mass while I stayed home with the two younger girls. I don't think they attend mass on Saturdays often, but they couldn't go on Sunday for whatever reason so they went last night instead.


Today was Sunday, my "day off". Since I have no friends or anything here yet, "day off" means I chill out all day. I slept in and then went on a very long walk in one direction from the house. I got very hot on my walk so I came home and read for a little while and then went in another walk in the other direction. I think my head is hurting a little bit now from all the sun! (Don't worry mom, I used sunscreen!) I saw more of the city and I'm feeling more comfortable about walking around without getting lost. It was so funny the difference in the city on Sunday because everything was closed down and the streets were generally quiet.
The family was out all day, the father was working and the girls and mother were with the mother's parents, and when they returned, we all went to a little park nearby, kind of reminded me of Irvington because all of the kids were out playing different sports and there was an intense game of bball going on.
Now it is time for bed and tomorrow begins a new week! The housekeeper comes tomorrow, which I weirdly look forward to as she is the only friend I have made, so that will be nice, and I plan to do a little bit more walking, hoping to work on my tan at the same time ;)