Saint Day Paella

Nobody tells me anything.  Well, maybe they do and I can’t understand it?

Yesterday was Auri’s saint day, which is why all of her friends came over.  We had a big party and her girlfriends brought her gifts, but I didn’t have a gift because I was totally unaware!  She told me her birthday was in August—nobody explained to me that Saint Aurora is celebrated in October.  Luckily, I’m pretty sure nobody noticed or cared.  I hope these mistakes soon fade out of my life.

In any case, Auri woke up early and made paella which was amazing!

Auri's paella

I met all of her closest friends, who were all wonderful and so patient with me.  Two of the girls speak English really well, so they liked practicing with me and teaching me new expressions.  Gema is a veterinarian who learned English when she spent a year in Portugal and Alicia is currently working in some sort of office job while looking for work in the U.S.—her English is almost fluent and spoken with an Irish-Spanish accent because she learned to speak when she spent nine months studying in Cork, Ireland.  So adorable.

Auri receiving her gifts

The whole group- Auri is to my right in the white shirt

We spent the afternoon eating, drinking, and talking about life.  Auri is interested in a boy named Antonio who none of the girls had met, but he showed up at the end of the afternoon which was a grand spectacle.  Then one of the girls, Chio, took out a racy book and started reading it aloud.  This made all of the girls laugh uproariously and resulted in Antonio looking slightly uncomfortable.  I felt right at home!