"Señora Aurora y su perro Malla"

So the entire time that I was writing my first blogs, my mom (who always helps me realize my faults), kindly reminded me that I didn't give you guys any info on where I am living and what it's like! So here it goes...

I live with a woman named Aurora. She is the epitome of a Sevilla woman. Although she is much younger than expected (57 or so), she is a lot like Grandma Jo. Not in the ornery, rude, or misspoken way, but it the way that she will shove food down your throat as if she is trying to stuff you for her next meal! She makes mass amounts of food at all times. She blames it on raising two attractive, strong men, but I blame it on her thinking we are far too thin for her liking. However, when it comes to her eating with us... if we're late, she doesn't wait up. And, mom and dad this one is for you, she feeds her dog under the table!!! I then told her of how I get scolded every time I even go to pet my dog under the table for my parent's fear of me giving him food... Like I would ever do that!? She laughed and told me to feel free to give him something. However, I could not help but feel weird doing that without having the HAWK EYE/DEATH STARE through the patio door while I am used to sneaking bear bits and pieces of the fresh sirloin my dad is grilling outside.

As for her dog, her name is Malla which is pronounced Maja (our version of Maya). She is a little white snowball of a dog. Curly fur, very few, little teeth and is the most active dog I have ever seen! She constantly walks around on her hind legs, almost hopping, so that she paws your lap so that you know she wants you to pet her. But don't think it stops there... Once you pet her, it is as if you have a mandatory 30 minutes of playing with her AT LEAST, or she will hop up on your lap (size of a lap dog) and constantly nuzzle you until she is satisfied with you petting her. Ash, NOT the dog for you! However, Jane, maybe you can finally have a travel dog to finally fit it your Louis vuittone bag for John Michael? You know... one of those gifts you buy for him that you will actually appreciate more than him at the time, until he's older though... THEN he will begin to appreciate the beautiful purchases throughout his childhood (oh how I miss the McTernan family!).

I also showed Aurora the little picture book that John Michael, Jane, and Mike made for me of our family. OF course, she began to think that John Michael was one of sextuplets that looked EXACTLY alike because there were so many pictures with him in it. But she was SHOCKED at how large of a family we have and how beautiful we were. Let me remind you that a few people are missing from the book (not to name names) but the pretty family members are in there I guess? I only kid... Everyone made the book, even grandma Josephine. She was amazed that she was still alive! Even though I told her about her stubborn ways and how she has believed she wasn't going to be around for the past 7 years my senora replied, "the longer she hopes she isn't here... the longer she will be stuck here. Too bad for her. Seems too stubborn to realize her own faults (as she laughed)." So... all in all Aurora seems to have a very good sense of humor. Loves to laugh, but also LOVES her TV. Whether it is a telanovela (soap opera) or a game show, she is constantly glued to the TV. Maddy... you have finally met your match! Who can watch more TV in one sitting... I think she may have you beat!

Although she seems wonderful, I can't help but to feel bad for her as well. She is a widow; her two sons are grown up and have been out of the house for years. So it is just her and Malla. And you can definitely tell... They are best friends, and do not go ANYWHERE without one another. Her grand-daughter is named Nuria. Her father is Paco, her older son. Nuria is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen! She has hair as curly (if not more) than John Michaels but it is a little lighter in color, almost a gold tint, but not blonde like Megan or Maddy’s hair. She also has an ALMOST uni-brow (but it is beautiful, no wax is needed; unlike me as a child), long dark eyelashes that looks as if they are curled every morning, and the cutest little style imaginable. She is a little sassy, but not in a bad way, in a 6 year-old, I know all way. She is the sunshine that brightens up not only Aurora's day but Malla’s as well. The second she enters the room they gravitate towards here. She has finally opened up to me now; since she knows that I can speak Spanish (it was pretty intimidating to her at first. Especially when she was whispering about me and I whispered back... “sé que tu dicho acerca de mi” --- "I know what you said about me"). Never have I seen a girl blush as much as she did. However, I think she finally liked me because of the Jello I gave her grandma. Of course, like any child she denied wanting to try it because of how it looked, but the second she did. She kept asking for more! She has finished two whole packs of Jello herself in one sitting!
It's nice having a child around again though... Makes me miss all of the cousins though and all of their riff raff!

As for the house that I live in... we are in a condo/apartment thing. We are the top floor and everything is marble or tile floor here. Walk up 3 flights of stairs to the door on your right and that's us! Open up, it is very quaint but not by any means too small for the three of us and her little puppy. Her private bathroom is directly on the right when you enter, her room to the left, and you enter into the main room/eating area. A little 4 seat table to eat at, with a tiny kitchen about the size of our mudroom/laundry room. Inside of the kitchen is the washer, dryer, sink, fridge, etc. (all household appliances). Megan and I have the entire upstairs to ourselves. We have a sweet little setup if you ask me. We have our own bathroom with two beds in the bedroom. Then, we also have a walk out roof top patio all to ourselves. The patio looks across all of the rooftops in Sevilla. If you ask me, it’s like Aladdin (to all of you that have watched the wonderful Disney classic) minus all of the satellite dishes on the rooftops. It looks as if you could hop from one rooftop to the next and each is decorated differently. From the clothes hanging to dry on the rooftop lines, to the overhanging gardens each roof is different in its own secretly beautiful way.

Well, that’s all I can think of at the moment, but if you ask me, I think that’s pretty darn good! If you have any requests as to what I should write about next, let me know! Love and miss you all! Keep in touch!

Laur
Quote of the week: “Así que… Jello. Es parecido gelatina, no?” ---- “So…. Jello. It’s like gelatin, right?” – Señora Aurora

- i guess Jello isn't as big of an amazement here as it is in Italy? oops! oh well!

P.S. pictures of her and her dog will be posted later! my computer is dying and this is all i could accomplish! lo siento! (sorry!)