A Day with the Sáiz-Ferrero Family

Although I fell asleep super late, or rather, early in the day, I woke up, no problem, at 10:00 to get ready for church. I headed out around 10:40 and walked to Calle Sueca to go to church with Dovis. I sat with him and his family. His brother Samuel came, too - I'd never met him before today. The service was beautiful, and long! We took communion, too, which was neat. I've done it once before, in Calle Quart. Very cool.

The service ended around 1:00, and we stayed and chatted until about 1:30. At that time, we all piled into the car - Juan, Laura, Samuel, Dovis, and me - and headed out to their pueblo (20 minutes from the centro centro of Valencia) because they had invited me for la comida at their house!

We arrived, and sweet Laura insisted that I sit in the living room while she prepared lunch, but I would have none of it. I explained to her that I'm not much of a cook and I need to learn for my husband. She understood :) So from 2:00 to 3:00, Laura and I enjoyed each other's company whilst cooking together. I made the salad all by myself - minus Dovis' cutting the pineapple and mixing a bit.

At 3:00, the feast began. We had: paella with rabbit, chorizo, chicken, and murcia; HUGE shrimp; octopus; sepia; salad; potato salad; bread; and for dessert, and amazing cake that Laura made with one layer vanilla and the other a coffee flavor. We had wine and coke and water to drink. It was absolutely, hands-down, the best meal I've had in Europe. Laura is an incredible cook! The smell alone would leave you pining for this meal for days.

We finished at 4:00, and all of us withdrew to our rooms - mine being the living room - to take a siesta. Laura joined me in the living room, each of us taking a couch and a blanket. We all slept from 4:30 - 7:00. Juan and Laura actually woke before me, and tried to wake me up for a few minutes before I actually awoke. How embarrassing - and typical of me, huh?

At 7:00, we said good-bye, and Dovis and I headed back into town. The only kind of music Dovis has in his car is rap. His favorite is, of course, Christian rap (he will go on and on about an artist named T-Bone) but he is a die-hard fan of 'Pac and Snoop. He's obsessed with all things 'West Coast' and has a fierce admiration for all black people. He kills me. Here is his facebook profile picture.... he is hilarious.

Anyway, we were headed to "Día de la Amistad" at Miguel's church, Centro Cristiano Esperanza. There, we met up with Markos, Samu, Lis and Celia, and of course Miguel and all my friends from the other time I went with Miguel - Jemi, Vicky, Jorge, César. It was a night of worship, fellowship, and good food. Although I honestly couldn't fit much else in my stomach after such an amazing lunch.

After the service, Dovis, me, Samu, Lis, Markos, Miguel and Celia went to meet up with Dani (another random friend), Lukas and María to hang out. We ended up sitting in Burger King and just talking and hanging out.

That's one thing I LOVE about my group of friends. There's never any rush - no hurry that would cause stress or frustration among anyone. And we just hang out and enjoy each other's company. Doesn't really matter where. The important thing to them, to us, is just being together.

At about 11:30, Miguel took me home, and since then, I've been catching up on my blog and preparing for a full week of classes!

La nueva hija de Laura y Juan,

Leigh